Naruto Cinderella Story
by aquitaineq
Summary: Cinderella story with a Naruto Flair, Naruto and Hinata Pairing
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time in the small Kingdom of fire country there lived a lovely young woman named Hinata. She appeared to be quite plain at first glance, but whenever someone took the time to really look at her they would easily marvel at her simple yet stunning beauty; she had smooth pale skin, long black hair with blue overtones, and large lavender eyes that could pierce even the darkest soul.

Hinata lived in a great manor estate which was situated at the periphery of a large forest and at the same time was only a short distance from the capital of the Kingdom, the city of Konohagure.

She was as kind as she was beautiful and her gentle spirit should have endeared to her many; however, she was unfortunate in that she had a family that seemed unable to appreciate what a blessing she truly was; and instead of seeing her gentleness as a joy to be thankful for they saw it as a debilitating weakness.

Her mother died when she was young; around the same time her father's twin brother was killed in battle and Hinata's father, always too proud for his own good, became cold and bitter. He remarried after a few years in the hope of having a son to inherit his estate. His new wife was a beautiful social upstart and was the man's mistress before she was his wife. Her ambition made her cruel to her stepdaughter who she viewed as a threat and her cruelty only worsened when she found herself unable to have anymore children after a very difficult birth which produced another girl, Hanabi.

Hinata's father, Hiashi, resigned himself to raising his orphaned nephew, Neji, as his heir and this only fueled his wife's rage. But since she couldn't take it out on her husband she forced it upon young Hinata.

All day and all night the poor girl was forced to work as a servant in her own home. Over the years it seemed as though everyone had forgotten that she was the true heir, in fact, they seemed to forget that she was a lady of the house all together. Because of her low status and the fact that her father pretended that she didn't exist, even the servants treated her harshly.

She had very few friends, but she had been very lucky over the years to meet people who cared for her deeply. Within her own household were two young men; a stable hand named Kiba and the gardener's son, Shino. They looked out for her as if she was their own sister and she loved them as brothers. As she grew up they provided the only love and affection she ever received. Later on she made several more friends, mostly passing acquaintances or friendly faces at the marketplace, but two people in particular became very precious to her; two girls named Haruno Sakura and Tenten.

Hinata counted these precious people as her greatest blessing and because of them she kept her spirit as pure and gentle as it had been when she was born. No matter how cruel her family was, no matter how hard her stepmother tried to break her spirit she refused to break under the strain.

That is the background to the heroine of our story, now on to the 'hero'.

Konohagure was a city known for its simple beauty and esoteric architecture. Airy, spacious, and clean it was unique among all cities for its healthy and vibrant residents. Situated in nearly the direct center of fire country it was the heart and pride of the nation. It was here that the leader of the land resided; the Hokage. As the city was the heart of the country, the heart of the city was most definitely the magnificent palace in which he resided.

The people of fire country were very fortunate for not only did they live in peace and prosperity they leader was a model of virtue. Strong, handsome, valiant, and uncommonly kind to his people he was beloved like no other. He did, however, have one trait that was feared by many…a temper.

**NARUTO! **Get back here NOW!

A young man with spiky blond hair and clad in a lurid orange cloak ran down the halls laughing wildly holding a near empty paint can and hot on his heels was his trusted friend and bodyguard, Lord Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke, unlike the prince, ran for fear of his life because close behind them ran Naruto's father the Hokage!

"_God help me!" _Sasuke thought to himself as he tore out of the castle and sprinted down the marble steps, following Naruto into the nearby woods. _Why me! _

Minato-sama, had expressly ordered him to keep an eye on his son and prevent any more pranks, but the damn blond slipped away. And why should it be his fault that he was so twisted as to decorate the portrait hall with green paint!

After about twenty minutes it appeared that they had managed to lose their pursuers. Naruto collapsed on the ground and Sasuke leaned on a tree panting heavily. Once he caught his breath he turned to the blond menace and in a poisonous tone said, "What on Earth would possess you to do such a thing Naruto! Your father is going to have both our heads!"

"Hmmpf!" Naruto huffed as he brushed off his friend's worry.

Sasuke snapped, rare emotion clouding his tone, "Naruto-sama! Beyond the actual damage the sentimental damage is overwhelming! Don't you have any respect for the Hokage who founded and ruled your country?"

Naruto stopped snickering and he dropped his 'smiling idiot/prankster' act. Few ever saw him in this light, only Sasuke and Naruto's tutor, Iruka-sensei, knew how mature he could be and it infuriated them even more when they watched him make a fool of himself.

"I know, but I can't stand it. They rule my life as it they were still alive and kicking. It's always about how great they were and how no one thinks I can compare. One day I am going to be Hokage and earn the respect of the people and my father all on my own merit not theirs!" Naruto sat and rubbed his now tired face.

Sasuke sighed and took a deep breath before responding, "Naruto-sama, no one is going to respect you if you keep on acting like an idiot."

"I know, but they won't even look at me except when I'm causing destruction. I'm not going to be ignored."

Sasuke really didn't know what to say to that. He had a similar problem; his older brother was a legendary knight and his father's pride and joy. Growing up it never seemed to matter how hard he worked for it was never quite as good as his brother's accomplishments. He wanted to love his brother but in the end he became nothing more than a barrier to overcome.

By the time he was thirteen he was sick of being second best in all things, so he left his household and took up residence with the 'foolish' prince. His family thought that he was a failure for taking this route, but this was about making his own path.

Naruto had an incredible legacy to live up to as well, and from the moment of his birth events conspired against him to make everything as difficult as possible. When Naruto's mother was in labor, her husband was in the midst of a terrible battle with a power fox demon.

The Hokage was able to kill the monster, but being immortal it couldn't really die. Therefore, the soul of the beast had to be sealed inside a newborn child. And the only newborn in the hospital had just happened to be the Hokage's own son.

The few who knew of the secret couldn't help but think that the boy was cursed. Despite assurances that he was merely the vessel they harbored the idea that Naruto was more demon than human and few ever came to respect him.

Growing up in this atmosphere it did seem that Naruto could never please anyone and therefore acted out. His father was busy at all times and never seemed to have time for the boy, this made Naruto act out even more in the deluded belief that bad attention was better than no attention.

Over the years he matured, but his pranks and cheerful attitude were an integral aspect to the mask he had created in order to deal with his situation and he didn't know how to cope otherwise.

Pulling off his trademark orange cloak and tucking it away, Naruto walked to a ridge and starred at the sight of Konoha bathed in the glowing hues of the sunset. _It was beautiful__**, **_he thought to himself.

"Iruka-sensei is going to kill me isn't he?" he asked quietly.

It had actually been awhile since his last prank and he was beginning to regret his foolishness. But he had just been so upset, he needed to do something and it had been the first thing that came to mind.

_Earlier that day_

Naruto had woken in a good mood and so far it had been a good day. He met with Iruka-sensei for breakfast; he trained with Sasuke and for once beat him in a sparring match. His instructor Kakashi-sensei gave him rare words of praise and he swelled in well earned pride.

He turned down his teacher's offer of Ramen in the hopes that he could have lunch with his father and tell him of his day; maybe he'd be proud for once.

Walking to his father's study he heard raised voices coming from inside. He thought maybe now wouldn't be a good time, but the day had gone so well already that he couldn't help himself; as he was about to knock he heard footsteps from inside the room draw close and he stepped back as the door burst open.

And out stormed Sasuke's own father, he glared venomously at the boy before disappearing down the hallway. Naruto didn't doubt what the argument had been about, the man had been trying to force Sasuke to come back home from the moment he had pledged himself to serve Naruto. It should have been seen as an honor to have one's son serve the future Hokage, but no one thought so, almost everyone believed it to be a waste of the young man's talents.

Naruto was still beside the open door, in this position he could hear everything without being seen. Fate conspired for him to be in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time.

His father, Minato-sama, sighed heavily and spoke to another in the room, "Sasuke-kun has the right to make his own choices in life but….I can't help but wonder if maybe his father is right. Maybe he is wasting his talents with Naruto. I'm starting to think the boy is completely hopeless."

Naruto froze and found himself unable to interrupt or turn away.

He could hear his father walk further from the door and had to strain his ears in order to catch the next bit. "I'm starting to think I should remarry, I need an heir the people can believe in."

At this Naruto slid away as silent as a ghost.

And while his father remained ignorant, his companion in the room was not.

_End flashback_

His father's words didn't merely hurt his feelings, it killed him inside. Of all the people in the world he wanted his father's love and respect the most; but he had now lost all hope in receiving it.

Sasuke would have been blind to miss the black cloud surrounding his master. This was far from his usual state and he was very worried.

"Naruto-sama, please, lets go home. We can clean up the mess and after a few days no one will care anymore." He knew he was telling a white lie, but he did suppose they would at least get over it in a week or two.

Then he heard a loud popping noise and looking around he noticed that not only was the can of paint missing but all traces of paint on their skin and clothing had disappeared.

Naruto looked at him ruefully, "it was just a Justu; we don't have to clean up."

The prince's best friend looked at him in unabashed wonder before breaking out in a laugh and tugging him back home. This was why he swore himself to the blond menace; it was because he never ceased to amaze him.


	2. Chapter 2

_Back to Hinata_

Over the years Hinata was given more and more tasks that, in short, no one else wanted to do; however, she frequently failed to understand why. For example, she didn't exactly enjoy mucking stalls, but she loved spending time with Kiba-kun and his dog Akamaru in the stables where they resided. Not only that but she loved the sight, smell, and tranquility of the horses.

If anyone knew she enjoyed it she'd be in trouble, but no one paid enough attention to notice. Another task that she was 'burdened' with was picking wild mushrooms and herbs in the forest. Most of the food eaten by the household was grown on the estate; however, some things just aren't the same when grown in standard means. And the sad fact was that no one else could be bothered; so off she went.

At the moment she was currently on a mission to find rare truffles amongst the leaves and bark of the forest floor.

Listening to the song of the birds and burbling of a nearby brook she was reminded of when she met Sakura-chan for the very first time.

It was the first time she had been sent out to find the mushrooms her stepmother enjoyed so very much. She had only been eight years old and had never before gone into the woods on her own. She had been terrified, so much so that she could barely see straight let alone forage.

The other servants liked to tease her by telling her scary stories about evil spirits that lived in those very woods, spirits that like to eat the hearts of lost little girls like herself!

As she trudged through the woods, shaking like a leaf and jumping at every little noise she began to hear the sound of singing. Draw to the noise like a moth to a flame she found a cute pink haired girl singing a cute song while picking flowers; everything about this girl was just…cute!

Sakura was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, but since her family had originally lived within quite modest means she was a down to earth girl who appreciated all the good that came into her life. She could be a bit silly and boy crazy at times, but she had a very good heart and the two were friends from the moment they met.

While Hinata stood wondering if perhaps this girl was a pixie of some sort Sakura noticed her presence. Stranding up straight she gave Hinata a slightly nervous smile and waved hello. Hinata did the same and the two girls inched closer to one another before they finally came face to face. Both starting giggling and their friendship went off without a hitch. Sakura, it turned out, was quite the expert on flora and fauna and taught Hinata all she needed to know in order to avoid poisonous fungi and herbs that could leave you itchy for weeks. Though after hearing about poor Hinata's situation she pointed out all the negative affects in great detail in the hopes that it would give the girl ideas, but being entirely too sweet and kind, it never even occurred to her.

In Sakura, Hinata found a friend nearly as timid as herself but with the inner strength capable of taking down an army.

Reflecting on her memories of the girl she giggled a bit while she was working. Then she heard some voices. While she had never been attacked in the woods she always remained vigilant.

Moving with quiet stealth she inched towards the voices and stopped behind a large boulder. Peering around she saw two young men, one of whom instantly drew her attention.

She was enthralled! The man in question was so tall and handsome! Her keen eyes took in his gorgeous blue eyes as well as his cute spiky blond hair. But mostly she noticed how sad he looked, and suddenly she was filled with an intense desire to comfort him. She heard the black haired man call the other 'Naruto'. _Naruto…_what a lovely name she thought.

She was so busy staring that she failed to hear anymore of the conversation and suddenly she was rudely shocked back into reality by a loud popping noise. Being quiet by nature she didn't make any noise, but it was close!

Was that a justu? She didn't notice them doing anything. Remaining as silent as the stone she was hiding behind she waited long after their footsteps died away before she got to her feet and made her way home.

And the whole way she found that she couldn't get Naruto's image out of her head, and she thought to herself, "_is this what they call love at first sight_?"

Suddenly realizing how silly she was being she giggled and sought out a few more truffles on her path home.

Waking up the next morning proved rather difficult as Hinata had enjoyed several dreams that starred a handsome knight named Naruto. Blushing over her childish behavior and mentally scolding her subconscious for teasing her during the night she tried to put it past her and mentally prepare herself for the day.

Everyday Hinata woke up early so she could stretch and meditate before facing the trials that her family insisted upon. Today, however, would be a good day she was sure of it. Today was market day!

On market day, every Sunday to be exact, Hinata was sent to the village to gather various items. It was a tiresome task for they never allowed her a cart or horse to help carry the load. Rather she carried everything from a basket she wore on her back as well as various bags she carried over her shoulders.

But she looked forward to every Sunday because no one cared when she returned and that allowed her to spend time with her dear friends Sakura and Tenten. Sakura's family ran a shop selling fine cloth and ready made clothing and Tenten worked for a weapon master. They sold a variety of finely crafted swords, shuriken, kunai, etc; in short all manner of weapons imaginable.

Hinata always looked forward to this day not only to see her friends, but because it always proved exciting. Both her friends were, in her opinion, incredibly talented and whenever she spent time with them she learned so much.

Sakura was currently training to be a medic and she taught both her friends a great deal concerning the medical arts. She was also deeply involved in her father's business and Hinata always had fun looking at the new materials and clothing that the store carried. Not only that, Sakura loved making clothes, and she used both girls as models.

Neither Hinata nor Tenten were terribly interested in fashion but they did appreciate Sakura's gifts of clothing. Her father liked both girls and didn't mind it at all when Sakura made outfits for her friends from their surplus stock.

Tenten for her part was an expert in wielding weaponry; actually it would be more accurate to call her an artist in the field. Both Sakura and Hinata learned all there was to know about making weapons and they even learned how to use the simpler weapons such as shuriken and kunai.

Being an overly modest girl Hinata couldn't help but feel that she didn't add much to their friendship; however, what she didn't realize was that all of her friends were eternally grateful for the day that they met her for she brought an untarnished light into their lives.

Sakura, eternally awkward and shy in her early youth, didn't have any friends until she met Hinata. And from Hinata's ceaseless courage in facing her daily trials with a gentle spirit she learned to develop her own inner strength.

Tenten was a more complicated story.

Finished with her morning exercises Hinata dressed and ate her breakfast before getting the shopping list from the head servant. Haru-sama barely spared the girl a glance before handing her the list and shooing her off.

After loading herself with her basket and bags she waved goodbye to Shino-kun and Kiba-kun before setting off. Sometimes the two would go with her and spend time with her girlfriends. Hinata was so happy that all of her friends got along so well. Today, however, they would be spending their day off with their families.

_Family…_Hinata couldn't help but sadden at the thought. She was lucky that she had friends who cared about her so much, but it didn't change how much she yearned for familial love. She dearly hoped that someday she would meet a man who would love her just as she is, someone she could have a home and children with.

Her only friend who truly understood what she went though was her friend Tenten. As she walked the well worn path to the city of Konoha she distracted herself by thinking about her friend's similar lack of family.

Unlike Hinata who had a family that rejected her Tenten had no family at all. She actually wasn't a native to fire country; she didn't like to talk about her home but over the years Hinata had learned that she had been from a mountainous land. Her village had been attacked and her family killed.

Tenten had been so young that she couldn't even remember her family name. Miraculously she had managed to escape harm and survived on her own, she had never stopped moving and had spent her life living alone, whether it was in the wilderness or in villages and cities.

Over the years she had learned how to defend herself through sheer necessity; however, it was her natural born talent that landed her where she was today.

Hinata stopped to rest for a moment; sitting on the ground she reflected on the day she and Sakura had met Tenten for the first time.

It had become custom for Sakura and Hinata to play together in the woods during Hinata's mushroom quests, and it was during once such quest when the two came across a small campsite. Curious the two approached the area when all of a sudden a girl landed in front of them wielding a kunai. Sakura squealed in fright and Hinata had fainted.

When she had come to, she opened her eyes and found a strange girl staring at her. She was wearing dirty torn clothing and had her long brown hair pulled into two buns on either side of her head. She also had the loveliest brown eyes that Hinata had ever seen.

Though terrified of the girl at first, it wasn't long before Sakura and Hinata learned that her tough exterior simply protected the delicate flower beneath. She was the same age as they were, eleven years old, and both girls know how scared they would be if they lived all on their own. The two ventured into the woods a great deal after that bearing food and clothing and finally Sakura had convinced the girl to come with her to her house.

Tenten had worked at Sakura's family store to earn her keep; however, when she was thirteen she caught the eye of the local weapons smith. Tenten adored weaponry; she loved not only the art of wielding weapons but creating them as well. It wasn't long before the precocious young girl with an almost frightening talent caught the attention of the master craftsman. Soon after meeting her Akio-san decided to take her as his personal apprentice.

Finding acceptance, good friends, and a secure future, Tenten blossomed like a rose and her true nature shone through. Now, at seventeen, her sweet, slightly mischievous nature, bright smile, and sparkling brown eyes endeared her to many.

Reaching the city Hinata could barely contain her excitement. She wanted to see her friends! Not that she didn't have Shino and Kiba at home, it's just some things are best discussed with other girls, and crushes are one of them.

Quickly walking towards Sakura's family shop, their regular meeting place, she saw both girls waiting for her! As was their custom she rattled off the shopping list, gave them a portion of her money for the groceries and off they went!

They always split the task so it'd be over quick and would leave them the rest of the day to spend together. Hinata's Sundays were usually routine at this point, get the shopping done and over with so she could have her fun. But today proved different; in the midst of deciding between which green tea to pick up she spotted a familiar face.

Spiky blond hair, cerulean eyes, and whisker marks on his face! _It's him!_ Suddenly her breathing began to constrict and she felt her face turn what must have been a stunning shade of red. The dealer snapped her out of it when he expressed his concern. Almost everyone in the market knew the girl by name and most thought that she was a sweet, gentle girl with a lovely nature; however they also believed that she was a delicate creature unsuited to the work she was burdened with.

Often someone would ask her if she'd like help carrying her purchases and some even offered her a ride home. But being quietly stubborn she always just said, 'thank you, but I can manage.'

With her pale skill, delicate looking limbs, and timid nature, it wasn't hard to believe that her family thought she was weak; however, looks can be deceiving.

Hinata reigned in her unexpected emotions and assured the merchant that she was alright before purchasing her tea and running off to follow her mystery man.

Normally, Hinata would never be so bold; but when would she ever get another chance! Maybe he works here, maybe he _**is**_ a knight! Walking with her mind full of such thoughts she watched as he meandered through the crowd.

Naruto loved this part of the city. He loved the fact that he wasn't judged by the people here from the moment he was born.

The events of his birth were kept a strict secret, and it was only the gossipy nature of the court that allowed so many of the 'upper class' to develop such loathing for the young man. The common people, however, were not privy to such information. And while they had heard rumors few had ever seen the prince himself. Naruto kept his trouble making to the palace and on the streets he was able to earn his own respect.

Foregoing his lurid orange cloak, which he only wore at the palace for shock value, and wearing modest clothing he easily blended in the crowd. He neither hid nor broadcasted his identity; when asked he said his name was Naruto and he didn't really care if they realized who he was or not for at least here people were willing to give him a chance either way.

Those who came to know him learned that he was kind, generous, and charming. Willing to help those in need and enjoyed playing with the kids who practically hero worshiped him. Speaking of which, he found himself suddenly accosted by a familiar trio.

Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon were a rag tag group from all angles of society. It was due to Naruto that they met one another and became inseparable best friends. The self formed team had high aspirations of becoming famous ninja someday and they had appointed Naruto as their sensei.

Finding their prey they latched on to him and demanded training. Laughing he made his way to a small park nearby with one child on his back and two clutched to either leg, all the while he failed to notice his 'stalker'.

Hinata was enthralled! Not only was her secret crush handsome, he's kind and likes children! On this way to the park he helped a man with one broken arm load his cart and when the group got to the park he played with the children and trained them in ninjitsu. Hinata was now fairly certain that he was indeed a knight!

She would have stayed and ogled longer but she realized that she was late in meeting her friends. Dashing off even her sharp eyes failed to notice the blue ones staring at her retreating back.

Hinata ran all the way to Sakura's shop and arrived rather out of breath. Panting heavily she made her way to the side door that led to the shop's basement. Carefully making her way down the steps she was met by the sight of Sakura trying to force Tenten into a frilly yellow dress. Giggling hysterically Sakura couldn't help herself, she knew it didn't suit the girl at all but she loved playing dress up with her.

Halting at Hinata's arrival she noted the girls red face and became concerned. "Hinata, are you ok, you're all flushed!"

Putting down her groceries she giggled nervously, "anou, anou" twiddling her fingers and blushing furiously.

Tenten may have been clueless but Sakura knew what happened right away, "you're in love!" she screeched.

It had taken a bop on the head, courtesy of Tenten, for Sakura to calm down enough to allow Hinata to tell her story. Though she could hardly be blamed, innocent little Hinata had never shown any romantic interest in any boy despite their efforts, and as for Kiba's crush on the girl, Hinata was positively clueless.

Sakura kept giggling throughout the whole story and Tenten rolled her eyes at the pink hair girl, but even she couldn't help but smile happily at Hinata's adorable gushing.

When Hinata had finished her story Tenten spoke up, "Naruto, huh? I think I've seen him before at the shop."

"Really?" Hinata and Sakura gasped at the same time.

Giggling internally Tenten nodded her head, "Yup, he was there with a dark haired man if I remember correctly, I'd say they were the same age so friends I guess. Akio-san is previewing his new merchandise to his special clientele next Sunday, maybe they'll be there! They bought a lot that time so I bet they were invited."

"Oh my god!" Sakura squealed while gripping Hinata who was bright red in giddy anticipation. Then just as quickly she was terrified, "B-but, n-no I'd just make a fool of myself!"

"Hinata!" Sakura snapped, "You are a beautiful woman of the highest class, you could charm the pants off of him if you tried hard enough!"

Hinata nearly fainted, "Sakura!"

"Well, you could" sniffing haughtily over Tenten's guffaws and walking over to her 'workshop' she picked through her latest efforts. "Here! You'll wear this!" Sakura proudly displayed a lovely, simple cream colored dress. "Deceptively simple, it'll make you look like an angel in disguise!"

Tenten had to agree, it would look lovely on Hinata. The color would emphasize her smooth skin and lavender colored eyes. Plus it was simple enough for Hinata to wear without feeling awkward.

Hinata was touched, "S-sakura, thank you it's so pretty."

"No Hinata, you're pretty and this dress will simply showcase your beauty." Sakura happily twirled around the basement, "this is all so romantic."

They all knew that it could come to naught, but while Hinata didn't dare hope for anything, her friends however felt that they had to encourage this new side of Hinata as much as possible. Maybe, just maybe, this would turn out well and help Hinata come further out of her shell.


	3. Chapter 3

_Back at the palace_

Sarutobi-sama watched the younger man pace his office, "Hokage-sama, I have a thought to share with you."

Minato-sama looked a bit disgruntled, mainly due to the fact that he could never get his Great Uncle to call him anything other than 'Hokage-sama'.

Calling for tea he sat and gestured for Minato to do the same; he waited for the tea to arrive before he began. "I've been thinking about what you said the other day, concerning Naruto-kun and the possibility of you remarrying."

Minato stiffened remembering his rather harsh words, "I…I didn't really mean what I said…." Trailing off he found himself at a loss for words. He just didn't know what to do with his son. He knew that he'd screwed up raising the poor kid. He hadn't been careful enough in his choices of caretakers and nannies, he spent a great deal of time away from home during the boy's formative years, and if Iruka-sensei hadn't come into the kid's life he probably would have run away from home a long time ago.

Minato-sama respected the teacher a great deal, but he was also jealous of the man. He was more of a father to Naruto than he was and he didn't know how to fix what he'd broken.

Sarutobi-sama pulled him away from his depressing thoughts, "maybe you have the wrong person in mind."

"Huh?" The Hokage so brilliantly responded.

Chuckling the former Hokage explained, "Maybe it's Naruto who needs to get married. After all he is nearly eighteen, and we both know that he isn't as hopeless as everyone thinks, but maybe a good woman will help him settle and improve his image."

Minato-sama considered what he said, "but Naruto would never go for it, and I wouldn't want to push him into an arranged marriage."

The older man smiled slyly, "we don't have to arrange anything. It appears that someone overheard some of what you said, and rumor has spread that you might remarry." Sarutobi allowed himself a silent chuckle at Minato's horrified look, as the certain 'someone' had been himself.

Quickly he reassured the younger man, "This is good! We don't have to deny or confirm anything but if the rumor is there then we don't have to worry about embarrassing Naruto. It if got out that we were looking to find him a wife you know what would happen."

Minato-sama had an idea what would occur, and it wasn't pretty.

Sarutobi-sama continued, "And we could invite the well to do in the working class as well as the nobility, that way maybe he'll meet a nice girl who isn't already prejudiced against him."

Continuing, "Once people learn that both Naruto and Sasuke will be there every eligible young woman will attend in the hopes of catching the Uchiha boy and at least that way Naruto will be exposed to what Konoha has to offer. We could also invite some foreign nobility as well."

Sipping his tea Minato pondered 'the plan'; a nice girl could do wonders for Naruto and Sasuke alike so it really wasn't a bad idea. He was worried though that Naruto would merely have his feelings hurt. What if the girls were cruel to him, what if they all hounded Sasuke but just ignored him. On the other hand, if they invited the wealthy merchants as Sarutobi suggested then perhaps he would meet an unprejudiced girl.

Naruto was a good looking boy if he didn't say so himself (takes after his old man he mentally sniffed to himself), surely they wouldn't ignore him like the nobility did. Wait, now that he thought about it…if Naruto got married he'd gain grandchildren!

That settled it. "Alright! We'll have the ball in a month, we'd better get started." At that he began to discuss what would need to be done, and so on.

If Sarutobi-sama was surprised at Minato's sudden enthusiasm he hid it well.

_Back to the marketplace _

As Hinata waved goodbye to her friends and began to haul her groceries home she failed to notice the attention she was getting from the shadows.

Naruto was surprised when he got a better look at the girl who had been following him. She didn't look like a spy. He had been intrigued when he finally noticed her at the park; he wondered how long he'd been followed. It was rare for him to miss something like that, and the only reason he noticed her at all was because there was something familiar about her, something about her scent.

He knew a Hyuuga when he saw one, the family kept to itself but it was dutifully loyal to the Hokage, in fact the whole family reeked of 'duty'. He was always a bit put off by their piercing pupil-less eyes, but he didn't really see a reason for one of them to spy on him; however, now he had her scent for sure. At least his blasted demon was good for something.

Spy or not, he couldn't help but be impressed, not only at her stealth but her physical strength as well. _She sure as hell doesn't look that strong!_, he thought to himself as he watched her briskly walk away with a load that could easily burden a full grown man. Needless to say Naruto was very curious.

News of the ball and the rumors of the Hokage remarrying spread like fire through Konoha; it wasn't long before _everyone_ had heard the news. There were varied reactions.

"A ball?", Sakura asked after her father read aloud the invitation that was sent to his family. "But, I thought only the nobility were invited to balls?"

Sakura's mother face was flushed in excitement, "whatever the reason this is such a wonderful opportunity! You're father could make important connections." Taking Sakura's hands and twirling her around the room, "And best of all we can show off our lovely and talented daughter to higher society!"

Sakura couldn't help giggling along with her mother as her mood was infectious. Her father agreed with her mother, this could be a wonderful opportunity. As for Sakura, when she realized that this meant she'd be able to create a ball gown she was ecstatic!

She didn't harbor any unrealistic hopes about marrying a Lord or anything, but she just loved the creation process behind clothing and she had never had an opportunity to make such a garment before. Plus a ball sounded fun!


	4. Chapter 4

"**A BALL!?**" Iruka-sensei ears were ringing from the combined outbursts of Naruto and Sasuke. "Yes, yes a ball! And don't shout!" Shaking his head, he never was able to get Naruto-kun to tone down his voice when he was excited or upset.

Both young men were aghast, though for vastly different reasons. Sasuke was terrified of being mobbed by every eligible maiden of the court, and as for Naruto he was afraid the ladies would sooner throw their wine at him let alone accept a dance.

Iruka-sensei waited for the shock to wear off before he continued, "I know what you are thinking." "Both of you!" he added after they shot him dark glares.

"But I have some good news." This time they shot him dubious glares. Sighing and praying for patience he finished, "The nobility of Konoha weren't the only ones invited. Nobility from allied nations as well as the prominent members of the country's working class have been invited to attend as well. That would entail merchants and wealthy land owners Naruto surely you know what you're father intended by including them?"

"Other than showing an interest in the people who create the prosperity this country enjoys so much?" Naruto answered cheekily.

"Baka!" Sasuke groaned at the now whimpering Naruto who was nursing his head. Iruka-sensei pulled his fist back from Naruto's noggin and gestured for the two to sit down.

On the table he had a neat list written down, and began to go over what the two would need to do to prepare.

Naruto toned his teacher out and brooded to himself. He knew now that his father had decided to go through with his idea of remarrying; why else would he throw a ball. It's not like he ever showed an interest in such things before.

He supposed he ought to try to be grateful, as Iruka-sensei believed he should, by inviting so many from outside the courtly circles. He supposed that if he gained a new mother, it would help to have one who didn't already hate him.

Being quite sharp and ignorant of Naruto's earlier eavesdropping Sasuke-kun understood Iruka's implication. Neither Iruka nor Sasuke were one to give credit to rumors; they had heard the whispered gossip concerning the Hokage remarrying but neither thought that was true. They understood that the plan behind the ball was for Naruto to meet someone, and Iruka smacked the blond haired boy because he thought the kid was being unappreciative.

Sasuke hated the idea of being surrounding by all the social climbing harpies that hounded him on a near daily basis in the palace, but if Naruto could meet people of the nation who didn't have a reason to dislike him then maybe he'd stop his stupid pranking and start acting like his true self.

Iruka had similar hopes for the young man, who he loved like a son. Every time he saw the boy hurt it broke his heart. More than once he'd been tempted to have a face off with the bastards, or even the Hokage himself; however, the man was 'manners' incarnate and he felt that it just wasn't his place. So he did the best he could trying to reassure the boy that they were wrong.

When he first met the boy he didn't know what to think. Armed only with his preconception he was prepared to hate the boy, the vessel of the creature who killed his family. But when he met him for the first time, and looked into his big blue eyes, he knew. He knew that this kid was no monster, and only a closed minded idiot would believe otherwise. Unfortunately, the court was full of such idiots and for the life of him he couldn't understand why the Hokage put up with them.

Turning his thoughts away from such troubling thoughts he focused on his task at hand. "Now first of all you'll need to take dancing lessons, and…Naruto! Are you listening!?"

"_A ball?_" Hinata whispered as she heard her stepmother read the letter that had just been delivered by a royal messenger. She sighed wistfully at the obvious excitement of her stepmother and sister. They had come to where her father and cousin Neji had been training to tell them the exciting news.

Hinata had been quietly observing the two when the woman had arrived. She watched them train whenever she was able.

When she was growing up she learned very quickly that her family didn't want to see her, but she wanted to be able to see them. So in response she became an expert in stealth, no one, not even her prodigy cousin could tell when she was watching.

During her observations she learned a great deal about her family's unique gift. Many families in Fire Country had special abilities that were passed down their bloodline. So if you were born into the Aburame clan like Shino-kun you had a special affinity to insects. Or like Kiba-kun who could communicate with dogs.

Hinata's special ability lay in her eyes. Hyuugas were born with pupil-less eyes that were always the same color; a pale lavender. With these eyes they could use Byakugan, a skill that allows them to have a nearly 360 degree angle of sight within a 50 meter radius and some like her father and Neji-san could see much father. This skill allows them to see through any surface and allows the user to see the inner chakra coil system, which leads us to the family's fighting style, Jūken or 'gentle fist'. Because the Byakugan allows them to see the chakra coil system they can attack individual chakra points to disable their opponents. Seasoned fighters can even kill with a single move using this style.

Hinata observations through the years had allowed her to learn Byakugan on her own, and she memorized all of the moves that Neji learned from her father and later practiced them on her own or with Shino and Kiba. In addition, in complete secrecy from everyone, she had been working on her own unique move.

It was watching Neji-san training to perfect two special techniques that she began to think of a new move of her own. The techniques are Hakkeshō Kaiten, literally Eight Trigram Palms Heavenly Spin, a defensive move that uses chakra to create a complete and impenetrable shield to protect the user against any attack. Second, Hakke Rokujūyon Shō, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms move. This move allows the user to close off all 64 chakra points in the human body, disabling the flow of chakra in the victim's body for quite some time.

Hinata was attempting to combine the two to create a move that was offensive as it was defensive. It was coming along slowly though, due to the fact that her hefty work schedule didn't allow much free time for working on secret techniques. But she desperately wanted to achieve her goal; she wanted to prove her strength to her family.

At this moment, however, Hinata's mind wasn't on her technique. She was watching all of them, smiling and happy, and with all her heart she wished that she wasn't so weak, so that she could belong.

"A ball." Akio-san stated.

"A ball, how nice." Tenten responded.

Looking over the invitation again Akio was pleased that his work had gained him such recognition, but a ball? What on earth would he do at a ball, demonstrate his latest weaponry innovations; discuss the best mix of metals to create the lightest and strongest kunai to the ladies of the court! Honestly….wait a moment.

"Tenten…you're a girl." He said in a thoughtful tone.

"Yes sensei, I _am _a girl" she humphffed.

"Yes, well, I was thinking that you should go with me!" _That's it! I can show off my brilliant student and use her to break the ice! Everyone likes cute girls who can wield kunai right?! _

"WHAT!" Tenten was pretty sure that her sensei had lost his senses; honestly, she really wasn't that sort of girl!

Several days later all three girls were sitting in the woods together, Sakura had dragged Tenten with her to where she usually found Hinata foraging.

Staring they finally spoke at once, Sakura squealed, "A BALL!" Tenten muttered sulkily, "a stupid ball." And Hinata softly whispered, "_a ball_."

Looking startled for a moment they quickly dissolved into giggles.

"Does that mean you two are invited?" Hinata asked after they all calmed down.

Sakura nodded, "Yes my father was invited! It's such an honor really, since we aren't nobility or anything. I think it's wonderful the Hokage is recognizing the value of his country's economic backbone."

Tenten snorted, "Did you copy that verbatim from your father?"

She scowled back, "So what if I did, I'm still proud of him!"

Hinata smiled softly, "That really is wonderful Sakura. So that means your sensei has been recognized as well right Tenten?"

Seeing Hinata's pleased expression Tenten didn't have the heart to put a damper on her good mood. "Yeah, his weapons have always been popular among the 'lesser' ninja, mostly genin and chuunin due to his reasonable prices. Anyway after a while the Jounin found out about him as well, and you know, word spread. Akio-sensei takes a lot of pride in his work and he still offers everything for a reasonable price. He seems happy about the invitation."

Grimacing she added, "But he's making me go to the ball with him, I think he's afraid to mingle on his own!"

Smiling, Hinata shook her head, "Maybe, but he is also very proud of you. I bet he wants to show you off."

Tenten just blushed. She had lived and worked with her sensei for four years and when she was with him she felt that this is what it must be like to have a father.

She never knew her own father; she had been raised by her mother and her mother's family when her village had been destroyed. She had asked her mother about her father but it had just made her sad so she stopped asking. Later she had wished that her mother had said something for when the village was gone she had no where to go, at that point it would have been really nice to have a father to go to, even a deadbeat would have been better than the streets.

Her sensei was one of her precious people and even though she complained about the ball she would go dressed in a nightgown if he needed her to.

Sakura brought them back to the subject of the ball, "well, what are you going to wear! Because you know I'd be happy to make your dress!"

"Just as long as it doesn't have ruffles!" Tenten teased.

Hinata just watched her two friends laughing and planning with a sweet smile on her face. She was glad that they could go and this way she'd have a first hand account as to what a ball is like, what the palace looks like inside, and all the other things she would have liked to find out for herself, but can't.

"And what about you Hinata?" Sakura asked, breaking Hinata out of her reverie.

"I'm sorry, what did you ask?" Hinata asked, mentally scolding herself for spacing out.

"I said what would you like to wear?" Sakura looked at her with a smile. Hinata didn't understand, "Wear to what?" How long had she spaced out for?

"To the ball silly!" Sakura was bouncing in excitement; she wanted to dress her friend up! Suddenly Tenten bopped her on the head, "Owww, what was that for?"

Tenten just nudged her and gave her a significant look.

Hinata just smiled, "I'm not going Sakura-chan; I wasn't invited."

Sakura's mouth dropped to the ground, she had been so excited about the whole thing that she had completely forgotten about Hinata's family troubles.

Sakura really wasn't all that naïve; it's just that she couldn't stand the idea of her friend being left behind. She was used to the three doing everything together.

Sakura's turned to Hinata with her jade green eyes wide in horror. "I'm so sorry Hinata! I just got carried away!"

"Don't be sorry Sakura, I'm not mad. I'm just glad the two of you are going, this way you can tell me all about it."

Hinata's friends wanted to protest but they weren't stupid and they knew that she couldn't come. But that didn't make it any less unfair, Hinata was the sweetest girl they knew, they both thought that she was wonderful and for her to be left out…well it just felt wrong.

"So, tell me what sort of dresses you two will wear?" Hinata asked, happy and excited for her friends she wanted to be involved even if she couldn't go. "I'll make sure to be in the city on the day so I can see you two all dressed up."

The girls smiled at the girl marveling at her attitude, most people would be angry or bitter in the same situation, but not Hinata. She always put on a brave face.


	5. Chapter 5

_Back at the Palace, Iruka's POV_

"Oh for the love of, Naruto I told you it's all in the feet!"

Naruto just scowled and cried, "This is so embarrassing Iruka-sensei! And why do I have to learn to dance anyway?"

At the moment Naruto and Sasuke were trying to learn to waltz…together. The day had started badly enough with the brawl the two got into over who would lead first."

"Just quit stomping on my feet dobe!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto.

Taking a deep breath he tried his best to soothe the two, maybe it would help to embarrass himself a little too. "Ok, maybe just explaining it to you isn't enough. Kakashi-san?"

Looking up from behind his book, where he had been snickering quietly at the spectacle before him, he just looked at him with a questioning face.

"Can you dance Kakashi-sensei?"

"A little." He responded.

"Ok then, could you give me a hand?"

"Oh…sure." Kakashi-sensei put away his book and made his way over to the group.

"Alright then, Kakashi-san you lead and you two!" Shouting to make sure the boys were listening, "you watch and learn!"

The boys nodded, happy that they weren't the only ones who'd be subjected to this torture.

He was surprised that Kakashi wasn't protesting; the silver haired man simply came forward, put his hand on his waist after he took the silver man's hand and once the music began gracefully swept him into a waltz.

He was impressed to say the least! Kakashi moved him so fluidly over the practice floor that it felt they were floating along to the music. He felt a flush come to his face and when the song was over he rubbed the scar on his nose and thanked the man, "Thank you so much sensei for your help."

Kakashi just nodded and it looked like he was smiling, though it was hard to tell with his mask and all.

Turning to the boys who were staring after Kakashi-sensei he asked, "So did you learn anything?" Nodding mutely, the boys silently decided to just flip a coin over who would lead first.

Watching their fighting instructor dance they thought that he must have learned all that grace from martial arts and they'd be damned if they couldn't master grace as well!

Iruka was just happy that Naruto was getting better at not stomping on Sasuke's feet.

And Kakashi-sensei was happy that he got to dance with Iruka.

Hinata rarely had the opportunity observe her family in their daily lives. She didn't know exactly why she felt such a driven need to do so. She understood that their cruelty was wrong, but she just couldn't hate them. Rather, she pitied them; she pitied their obtuseness, their harsh and inflexible self imposed rules as to how a Hyuuga must act in order to be a 'proper Hyuuga'. They probably didn't know how the outside work viewed them, because their inflexible nature also called for isolation from the outside world, as if it would corrupt them and that was a real shame.

When Hinata thought of all the wonderful people she knew because she had been rejected by her family then she couldn't really be all that angry at them could she? She would never have met Sakura or Tenten, nor would she have become such good friends with Kiba or Shino otherwise.

Focusing herself back to the present she quietly observed her stepmother, sister, and cousin as they practiced dancing for the ball. Dancing lessons weren't exactly common in a country made up mainly of families that specialized in warfare. But grace did go hand in hand with martial arts.

Neji and Hanabi were using one another as dance partners and were going about the whole thing as if they were practicing the Jūken! They are so serious and stiff! She almost giggled at the thought of what they'd look like at the ball if they kept this up. Really, it was symptomatic of her family in general that they couldn't even relax whilst dancing.

Carefully memorizing the steps to the dance she replayed them in her mind throughout the day as she performed her various chores. She found herself humming the music as she scrubbed and she made up words to go along with the tune.

_Oh Sing sweet nightingale _

_Sing sing sweet_

_Oh sing sweet nightingale sweet_

Scrubbing along she began to simply hum and stopped altogether when she felt someone watching her.

Hiashi-sama never could forgive himself for falling in love with such a weak woman. It really isn't as cruel as it sounds, he couldn't forgive himself for causing her death. Kioko1 had never planned to marry, her wish was to become a priestess and dedicate her life to quiet contemplation. But he had fallen in love with her and stubbornly pursued her.

He always wondered if she would still be alive if he hadn't. She hadn't been a weak woman mentally, she wasn't strong in the sense of being assertive or forthright, rather she had a quiet air of deep wisdom and she always seemed to have the right answer and knew the right way to say it. He loved her because she always saw the good in everything and it was so different from what he was accustomed to, she was arguably the most unique Hyuuga he'd ever known.

But where she was strong mentally she was weak physically. Her body was small, she had managed to carry and give birth to Hinata but it had been a terrible burden to her body. He had been terrified of losing her, but at the same time was desperate for a son. He unfairly pressured her to have another child. She had been several months pregnant when she caught a bad fever and passed away taking his son with her.

Every time he looked upon Kioko's daughter he felt his betrayal to his late beloved wife. When she was ill she had asked him to take care of their daughter, to love her enough for both of them and not to allow timid Hinata's spirit to grow cold.

Hiashi promised all the while thinking his wife wouldn't leave him. Her death had affected him more than he ever wanted to admit, and all the while he wasn't able to face the girl that looked so much like her mother. Every time he saw her he was faced with his guilt.

Hiashi-sama was simply afraid of his daughter, he was afraid to love her because he felt that since she was so much like her mother that she'd die like her as well. He didn't want to face that grief ever again and in a foolish misguided manner decided to push all of his emotions away. For if one didn't allow oneself to feel, how could they feel pain?

As the years past he felt himself more and more unable to keep his promise to Kioko, so he remarried thinking that a mother would do the girl well; it wasn't long into the marriage that he realized he'd chosen poorly. Especially, after she proved unable to bear a son, but at that point he felt that perhaps the gods were punishing him for his sins.

He decided to repent by raising his neglected nephew as his son, and as time passed he managed to think about his eldest child as little as possible.

Then today he a sweet voice singing; _Kioko_…her sweet voice was haunting him. Walking quietly down the hallways he saw her, saw her scrub the floor with callused hands red from the hot water, saw her do this all with a smile on her face and a sweet tune coming from her throat.

Hinata felt the presence depart and she hoped she wouldn't get in trouble. No one liked to see her happy, they thought that if she was happy then she wasn't working hard enough. But it wasn't in her nature to only find the bad in everything. She didn't remember her mother all that well but she could remember some of what she taught.

_Cuddling together, mother and daughter quietly sat in the garden listening to the sound of the leaves being rustled by the wind. Suddenly her mother spoke to her; she said only four words, "Love, compassion, joy, equanimity." _

And Hinata knew that those words were a special gift; that they were a product of her mother's studious learning and she treasured them always.

Finally finished with her chores she went to find Kiba and Shino at their usual meeting place behind the stables. She stopped at the corner of the stables and peeked out, silently watching Kiba play with his dog Akamaru and Shino collecting bugs. She smiled at the two boys that she considered her brothers.

Noticing her approach Kiba ran to her excitedly and swept her up in a hug, it had been over a week since they had been able to find the time to 'play' together. Shino was more reserved and simply greeted her quietly.

"Hinata, would you like to train now?" Shino intoned with this deep voice.

"Yeah, let's train!" Kiba replied enthusiastically.

Both boys lacked the means to join the ninja ranks; anyone could become a common solider and learn the basics. But to become a shinobi one had to join the academy, anyone could apply, and the tuition wasn't very high, but as peace time progressed less and less people were being accepted. As the years past it became harder for commoners to join as the positions were taken by those of higher rank.

Kiba's family, the Inuzuka clan, wasn't poorly thought of, but they had suffered great losses in the wars before the peace. They worked very hard in the hopes of restoring their place, but that took time. They did train family members in their own special techniques, but so far had been unable to send anyone to the academy.

Shino's clan, the Aburames, faced similar trials. A family's standing was often ranked on the number of shinobi in their family, a shinobi being a ninja who had not only passed the academy but then went through many difficult tests in order to reach the various ranks. Genin being the lowest, followed by chuunin, and then jounin; technically Sannin was the highest rank but only a legendary few ever reached it.

Hinata was sad that two such families who lost so much protecting the country would have to suffer so. She often wondered what sort of man the Hokage was not to acknowledge such efforts. But then again, suffering seemed to signify the life of a shinobi.

As much as Hinata enjoyed training with the two she was hoping to do something different. Watching Neji and Hanabi dance gave her an idea about her new move, plus it looked fun!

"Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, I was w-wondering if maybe we could, well…" Blushing and pushing the tips of her fingers together in a gesture of nervousness she found herself unable to ask them to dance with her.

"What is it Hinata?" Shino-kun asked, "Did you observe a new move from your cousin?"

"W-well, not exactly a new move, but I was hoping I could try it anyway." She was a bit frustrated with herself for being so bashful with her friends!

"Whatever it is I'm sure we can help you learn it Hinata!" Kiba piped in enthusiastically.

Shino silently nodded his agreement; she smiled happily at her fortune of having such helpful friends. They were always so supportive and encouraging. Still, asking a boy to dance was a bit nerve wracking, she decided to just get it out and over with, "willyoudancewithme!"

"Huh?" Kiba asked, "did you ask to dance?" He was afraid he'd heard wrong, the fact was that he'd love to dance with her!

Shino just nodded his head yes and said, "Sure Hinata."

Blushed she smiled sheepishly, "I saw Neji-sama and Hanabi-sama practicing for the ball and I wanted to try it, I thought it would help me learn to be more graceful."

Kiba's mood dampened a little when she said it was only for training, but beggars can't be choosers. "Ok, well…what do we do?"

About fifteen minutes later Kiba sulkily watched Shino gracefully lead Hinata in a waltz. Both young men listened carefully to her instructions, but Kiba was more of a visual learner. Later he took a turn and it went much better than his first try, both he and Hinata's feet were quite relieved.

Later that night when everyone else was fast asleep Hinata snuck out of manor and silently made her way into the woods. She was feeling inspired and her dance lesson gave her an idea for her special technique.

Walking to a nearby spring with a charming waterfall she felt out for any human presence and feeling none stripped off her clothes and made her way into the water.

1Kioko means 'meets world with happiness'.


	6. Chapter 6

Running through the woods Naruto reflected on his day. It had been rather uneventful except for the dancing lessons. Iruka-sensei never failed to impress him; he was a true renaissance man, right when you thought you knew the man he'd turn around with another skill you never knew he possessed.

Over the years the man had taught him ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. The three art forms that made up the skills of the shinobi; however, he had taught Naruto much more than just ninja skills. He taught him to cook, sew, read properly (as his previous tutors hardly bothered to teach him at all), mathematics, geography, you name it! All academic subjects; and he always proved able to answer nearly any question the boy posed. And if he didn't know the answer he would take Naruto to the library with him and they'd look it up together.

Iruka was also the one to introduce him to the city and countryside of Konoha. Iruka came from a modest family and he was a modest person who found happiness all around him despite his tragic past. His parents had been killed in the kyuubi attack. Iruka never mentioned that to Naruto, but he'd found it out eventually and he still wondered why Iruka didn't hate him like everyone else. Especially since he had a good reason, from Iruka's stories Naruto knew that he had loved his parents very much.

Especially his mother, she was the reason why Iruka had had such a 'well rounded' education. According to his sensei she had also wanted a daughter but since she couldn't seem to become pregnant again she taught Iruka everything that she ever intended to teach a son and a daughter combined. What she couldn't teach herself was taught by a variety of tutors. His sensei was a fountain of knowledge and talents and Naruto loved spending time with him.

He wished that he could remember his mother, hopping through the trees he thought that maybe it would be nice if his father remarried. If the woman was nice then it would make his father happy, and maybe if he was lucky he could at least be friends with her. Naruto laughed at himself when he thought that what his father really needed was the female equivalent of Iruka-sensei, too bad his teacher didn't have a sister.

At that Naruto decided not to be a brat about anything, that he would be a perfect gentleman during the whole ordeal. He was still angry with his father and no longer harbored any false hope where he was concerned, but he sure as hell wanted to make his sensei proud of him.

He realized that he wasn't far from the Hyuuga manor, so he decided to turn away when he caught a familiar scent. _It's her, the girl from the market place!_

Landing softly he carefully followed the scent and found himself drawing towards a spring, the sound of a waterfall became progressively louder as he drew near.

Keeping completely hidden he came to the falls and saw a most unexpected, most appreciated and most spectacular sight. Lightly twirling on the surface of the pool with streams of water twisting around her like ribbons she danced. It was an admirable use of chakra, though of course he didn't really think about that until later. It is rather difficult for a young man to think straight when led to the sight of a nude woman dancing alone in the woods, let alone one that can dance on water.

His interest in the girl grew ten fold at the sight; he definitely wanted to learn more about her! Unfortunately his brain was quickly turning into mush and he let his presence slip. Feeling the surge of chakra Hinata panicked and fled from the scene. As quick as a flash she was gone and he had no idea which way she went.

Deciding that it wasn't really a good idea to go after a naked girl, as it probably would be taken the wrong way, he left the scene fully intent to make it to the market again this coming Sunday, and maybe she would be there.

Hinata was mortified, someone saw her! What if it was someone from the manor? She couldn't really decide which was worse, a complete stranger or a family member. Hopefully they didn't recognize her. Shivering she hoped that he had gone so she could sneak back and get her clothes, she was freezing. Though maybe it served her right for dancing naked in a stream in the first place; but at least she had made some progress in her technique.

Creeping back to the stream she grabbed her clothes and quickly dressed before running back to the manor.


	7. Chapter 7

The week passed quickly and next thing Hinata knew it was Sunday. She had almost forgotten about the plan to attend Akio-san's special viewing today; Tenten had volunteered both her and Sakura as assistants as her master was expecting a great many orders. Their jobs would be simple; they would serve as hostesses in a sense. Tenten would be taking product orders and help her sensei showcase the wares while Sakura and Hinata provided refreshments. Akio-san had been enthusiastic when Tenten volunteered her friends since she found he'd be short staffed, besides he liked having Sakura and Hinata around anyway; they were sweet and pretty so it could only help business.

Hinata prepared for the day in advance, procuring the allowance the night before by saying that a special order of green tea would be coming in very early and would be in high demand so she'd have to leave at dawn. It worked as the man in question hated getting up too early on a Sunday.

Waking up as early as she said she would she made her way to the market place as quickly as she could with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun by her side. They promised to do her shopping for her, since they were already planning to come after Tenten promised to give them a tour of the new weapons.

Running first to Sakura's shop Hinata gave the boys instructions on what to buy and from whom and set them off before she changed into the lovely cream colored dress with a thin matching satin ribbon around the waist that Sakura had set aside for the occasion. Sakura then arranged Hinata's hair by pulling it up into a simple twist and keeping some wisps of hair free to frame her face. She looked innocent, yet mature and very sweet.

Sakura was wearing a simple mauve day dress, with a matching headband and her hair flowing loose. Hinata was enthralled, "Sakura, you look like an angel!"

Blushing Sakura replied, "No Hinata you're the angel, I'll be a fairy." Giggling the two made their way over to Akio-san's shop.

The trip there was uneventful and they made their way past the waiting crowd of weapon enthusiasts to the back door. Knocking on the door they waiting a few moments before a rather harried Tenten opened the door.

Hissing quietly, "Quick get in!" Grabbing Sakura she said, "Sensei is going berserk and I know you of all people can calm him down." Akio-san was really just a big softie and for whatever reason Sakura had a real way with him.

Walking past the small kitchen area in the back room they entered the shop itself. All of Akio's newest work was elegantly displayed in various racks, cases, and so forth. The shop was a hodgepodge of reasonably priced shuriken and kunai sold by the dozen, as well as a variety of choices which could cost a small fortune.

The reason for the big showing was that Akio-san had finally managed to create a new alloy that allowed for an exceptionally light weapon that was stronger than ever; in fact, they turned out to be so light that Akio had Tenten train with them for months in order to make sure they made viable weapons.

Tenten had been in her element and had developed learning methods just for the new shuriken and kunai that he had made with the new metal. Over time he would experiment with other kinds of weapons but for now the basics would do. All the same he had a number of surprises, and a lot of it had to do with Tenten's experiments.

As the girls walked into the room they saw the man in question pacing nervously; Akio-san was an imposing man. Tall with a broad build he towered over most and being in his early thirties he was still in his prime; strong, vigorous, and yet…a bit fussy and fretful when it came to his work.

Hinata returned to the kitchen and began to brew some tea while Sakura began to calm the frazzled man.

"Akio-san, everything looks so lovely." Sakura soothed as he began to visibly relax in her presence.

"Thank you Sakura-chan, and don't you look lovely in that dress, you too Hinata!" His eyes nearly bugged out when he got a good look at her when she handed him some tea. "Sakura did you made them both?"

Nodding yes the two fell into friendly chatter while Hinata talked with Tenten. While the two were wearing dresses, Tenten was wearing her usual pants, dressed up with a pink silk sleeveless top, her hair pulled into her trademark twin buns.

Returning to the kitchen the two finished setting up the cups, "Tenten, when will you open the doors?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, at ten sharp." Looking at the clock they both saw that it was only 8:30am.

Hinata was a bit confused, "There are already so many outside, why are they here so early?" She had assumed they'd be opening earlier and that was why Tenten had them arrive so early.

Seeing Hinata's questioning face Tenten answered, "Oh, I wanted you to come nice and early so you could see everything before the crowd gets in. Kiba and Shino too, I hope they get here soon I really want to show you all what sensei made! As for those outside they are right to line up, these new weapons are top of the line! We'll actually be limiting how many can come in at once and we have a few special customers who are free to come and go as they please due to their status."

Tenten scowled at her final words, but she knew it couldn't be helped; pissing off nobility wouldn't be good for business. She was just happy that Akio-sensei never went out of his way to kiss ass. He got to where he was through talent and quality.

It wasn't long before the two had finished preparations for the refreshments when Kiba and Shino arrived. They had finished shopping and left it all at Sakura's family's shop and both were very excited, though in Shino's case it was a bit hard to tell.

Tenten enthusiastically led them through the shop with Akio-san, now calm and happy, watching fondly after his student. Taking a new kunai she passed it around so they could all feel the difference, which was substantial. Both Shino and Kiba used their hard earned money to purchase a set of shuriken and kunai each, and Akio-san gave a few extra for free. He also gave some extra he had leftover to Sakura and Hinata "To practice with", he said with a wink. Knowing perfectly well what the girls did with Tenten in their spare time.

Finally, the time came to let the customers in.

"Naruto! Hurry up or we'll be the last ones there!" Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto came to Earth once more. The whole morning as they walked through the city market place on the way to Akio-san's weaponry shop the blond man keep wandering off and looking around as if he expected to see someone.

Sasuke was irritated beyond belief; he had been looking forward to this day for nearly a month! Ever since he received written notice that he was a special guest to the viewing of Akio's latest development in weaponry. Kakashi-sensei had received one as well and had already left with Iruka-sensei. Naruto had been excited as well, but for the past few days he had been rather distracted, and quiet, which bothered Sasuke. Naruto was rarely quiet.

Naruto had been searching for his 'mystery woman' all morning and so far hadn't caught her scent at all. He could tell that Sasuke was about to beat him senseless so he decided to give it a rest until after the showing.

He wanted to see Akio-san's new work as much as anybody, but he couldn't help being distracted. The two were supposed to arrive early in the hopes of avoiding other 'special clients'. He knew that most, if not all, of the special clients invited to Akio-san's viewing would know of him and he didn't want them to see him and start blathering on to the locals what a horror he was. He enjoyed his well earned _good_ reputation in these parts and he didn't want them to ruin it.

Picking up the pace the two reached the shop, and there Naruto caught her scent. Looking around excitedly he followed his nose towards the back of the shop where two young men were only just exiting a side door. They both carried the girl's scent and he realized that she must be inside.

Without even registering the strange looks he was garnering from the two young men he rushed back to the front of the store where Sasuke was currently standing with Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei. As he approached, the group was perturbed to say the least. It was obvious that Naruto was both nervous and excited and they had no idea why.

Bouncing on his feet and unconsciously trying to smooth his perpetually unruly hair Naruto anxiously waited to get in.

"Naruto-sama don't bother you're hair will never lie flat." Iruka-sensei teased. Kakashi-sensei chuckled good-naturedly.

Quickly Naruto shushed both, "Don't call me that!" he urgently whispered. Understanding, Iruka nodded as did the others.


	8. Chapter 8

Then the door to the shop opened and one of Akio-san's assistants allowed the first lot to enter. The numbers of those allowed in at one time were limited; since they were special guests they wouldn't have to wait too much longer to get in.

Hinata could tell, as she made her rounds serving cups of tea that Akio-san's latest work was going to be a huge success; everyone admired the light weight of the weapons and the added flexibility and speed that they would allow in battle.

Thankfully Akio-san had begun to relax and now the three girls did their best to make sure all those little details went as smoothly as possible. Hinata had the greatest skill in brewing tea so she was preparing a fresh pot when she heard another group entering the store; soon after, Tenten ran into the back room sparkling in excitement; "Hinata! You would not believe who is out there! Hatake-san, one of the greatest shinobi in the whole kingdom! Look!"

Sakura had come out with some clean teacups and joined the two peeking around the doorway. Browsing together was a pale man with silver hair, a darker skinned man, and a young man with black hair.

The three got a good look, but not being terribly familiar with the court they didn't know who they were, besides Hatake Kakashi of course.

Tenten whispered to the girls, "I've seen him before but never this close, the man is a legend!"

Sakura whispered back, "which one is he?"

"The one with the silver hair, I wonder who the others are though?" Tenten was desperately fighting the urge to ask the man for his autograph.

"Well then, why don't you go out and see if your sensei can introduce you to him, it looks like he is going to talk to him." Hinata said as she poured some fresh tea and prepared to go back into the shop.

Tenten, usually so brave, was surprisingly timid in this case, so Sakura grabbed her arm and led her out towards her sensei. They all knew that Tenten would only beat herself up later if she missed such a golden opportunity.

Gathered together the three girls approached the group, Sakura holding onto Tenten and Hinata following with her tray of tea.

Sasuke managed to tear his eyes away from the weapons around him long enough to wonder what the hell had happened to Naruto when he spotted a group of three girls approaching them.

His eyes unconsciously focused on a pink haired young woman with pale skin and jade green eyes. She was lovely to say the least, but what truly attracted him was the gentle humor in her eyes.

As they drew closer Akio-san took notice of them and quickly introduced the brown haired girl as his apprentice. It was rather unusual for a weapons smith to take a girl as his apprentice so they all gave her special notice.

Tenten gave a rare blush as she was suddenly subject to intense scrutiny by the men, but mainly she focused on Kakashi-san. She almost missed her sensei telling them that she could give a demonstration of the new weapons if they liked.

Kakashi-san was intrigued to say the least, and he most definitely wanted to see how these new weapons handled. Speaking to Akio, "I would like that very much, I'm sure we all would."

Smiling the man gently grabbed his blushing apprentice and led her to the courtyard. Hinata finished handing out her tea before returning to the kitchen.

Placing down her tray, she suddenly realized that someone had been waiting for her.

Once she realized that she wasn't alone in the small kitchen she forced herself not to react too quickly as it must only be one of Akio-san's customers. Turning her eyes became as wide as saucers as she came face to face with the object of her affections!

Naruto stifled a chuckled at the surprised look on the girl's face, it was obvious that she recognized him but as yet he didn't know if she really knew who he was and that was something he wanted to find out as soon as possible.

"I saw that you were the one serving the tea so I just thought I'd grab a cup from you." He saw her relax when he provided his oh so innocent reason to be following her and she silently poured him some tea.

Taking the cup of steaming green tea he nodded his thanks before taking a sip and declaring it the best cup of tea he'd ever had.

She blushed prettily at the compliment and before she could go he asked, "what is your name if I may ask?"

Very quietly, barely above a whisper she answered, "Hinata."

"That is a very pretty name." She blushed a bright red this time and he continued before she ran off, "my name is Naruto."

"Oh, very nice to meet you Naruto-san, a-are you h-here as a special guest?"

That settled it, he could tell that she wasn't aware of his true status, he knew that they had recognized Kakashi-sensei but when he saw them go over to his sensei he could tell from their body language that they weren't aware of Sasuke's status as he was always mobbed by girls that did.

He had the feeling that they only knew of his sensei due not only to his infamous abilities but also because this was a weapons shop and the owner's apprentice was well known on the street as a weapons mistress who could wield her master's wares better than most jounin.

Answering the girl he said, "Oh no, my master, Iruka-sensei, was invited by Hatake-san and my friend and I came along. I am glad I did, otherwise I would have waited a pretty long time in that line outside!"

Hinata was both ecstatic and terrified that Naruto was talking to her, she hoped to god that she wouldn't faint. She also hoped that she wasn't making a terrible impression. Naruto was talking to her in such a friendly way and she couldn't have hoped for more from him.

At that moment Sakura had entered the kitchen and saw one man who matched Hinata's description of her crush, as well as a very red Hinata. Putting two and two together she made her move.

"Hinata, who is your new friend?" she asked in an innocent voice.

Too mortified to speak, Naruto found himself answering for her. "I'm Naruto." He stated in a very warm voice.

Sakura took an instant liking to the young man; he had a very warm and friendly presence to him.

Naruto had no trouble in figuring out that this girl could either be his greatest ally or his worst enemy, depending on how he treated her friend.

As the two sized each other up Hinata did her best to compose herself.

Sakura could tell that her friend was overwhelmed and decided to ease the situation. "Well, I'm Haruno Sakura, my friend and I are helping out today so if you need anything else just let us know."

"I will, thank you so much Sakura-san, I'd better go before my friends come looking for me." And at that he made his way over to his two sensei and Sasuke-kun.

When he arrived he found them thoroughly absorbed and they were heading off to the shop's courtyard in order to see the new weapons in action as Tenten was about to make a demonstration.

While Naruto was heading off into the courtyard with his group Sakura was doing her very best to restore Hinata's peace of mind.

"He talked to me, he was so close!" Hinata said in a daze as Sakura led her to a chair and began to fan off her crimson face.

"Calm down Hinata you're as red as a beet! I don't know why he makes you so nervous he was just chatting right?"

Hinata nodded sporting a goofy smile. Sakura couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"Well, I don't suppose he told you any more about himself than his name?"

The pink haired girl waited patiently as Hinata nodded slowly. "Well, what did he say?"

"S-sorry Sakura-chan, well he said that he was here with his master, a man named Iruka."

Sakura quickly gathered all the available facts. Hatake Kakashi was a well known warrior and elite instructor to the noble's children; though she had heard he was very picky and only had a few students. As for the man named Iruka, he must be the brown haired man with the peculiar scar that she had seen with Hatake-san.

Iruka seemed like a pleasant sort and she had noticed that Hatake-san seemed to be incapable of keeping his eyes off of him. *giggle* Now who was the dark haired boy? All the facts seemed to point to him being one of Hatake-san's rare students.

She did think that the boy had a similar demeanor to the silver haired shinobi. As for Iruka, his warm personality sure seemed to have rubbed off on Naruto-san as she could sense nothing but genuine friendliness from both of them.

She decided that she could allow him to become friendly with Hinata; though discretely supervised and coached of course. She had a good feeling about this.

She also had a funny feeling about the dark haired boy. She had noticed him checking her out but she hadn't been able to tell if she had given a good or negative reaction. All those shinobi who were emotionally stunted it really did annoy her sometimes.

"Come on Hinata it'll be time to send in the next batch soon." Getting her friend back on her feet Sakura hoped that Tenten's demonstration was going well.

Outside in the courtyard Tenten had an audience of about twenty but there was only two that she hoped to impress, her sensei and Hatake-san.

The audience was told to keep a safe distance and Tenten began. Flying up she twisted midair while throwing the new kunai and shuriken at the various targets placed around the courtyard. Not only were they all dead on target the lightened weight increased the speed to such a degree that the whole demonstration only lasted a few seconds.

When they were led out in the courtyard and the demonstration was set to begin Kakashi discretely exposed his sharingan eye so he could make the most of the situation.

He was able to memorize every move of the girl's swift movements and save the information for later. Taking into the speed and accuracy of her movements he could easily tell that she hadn't been a weapons apprentice all her life.

"Yo, Akio-san." Kakashi turned to Akio and asked, "How long has that girl been your apprentice?"

Akio wasn't sure how to take such a question, but answered it truthfully, "nearly five years."

Iruka-sensei was shocked as well, the girl had incredible talent. She would make one hell of a kunoichi.

Akio was starting to worry that having Tenten demonstrate in front of so many shinobi hadn't been such a good idea after all. Blinded by his pride in her talent it didn't even occur to him that perhaps one of his clients might try to make her their apprentice instead.

"You've taught her well" Kakashi replied quietly before retiring into the shop to make his purchases.

Iruka-sensei politely bowed to Akio-san before taking his leave as well, and as for Naruto and Sasuke both had vanished.


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura couldn't help but notice the strange attention she was receiving from the black haired young man that had been a part of Hatake-san's party. He kept staring at her with a funny looking thoughtful frown on his face, as if he was studying her. It was a bit unnerving, and more than a little annoying.

Finally Sakura had had enough, walking up to him with a tray of tea she asked, "Is there anything at all that I can do for you sir?"

He seemed to take the hint and with a faint trace of a blush he simply nodded 'no'.

They'd been in the shop for a fair while now and made all their orders. Iruka found Kakashi and Sasuke and only needed to get Naruto so they could leave together. He told the other two that he'd meet them outside and went to ask those two nice girls in the kitchen if they'd seen his charge.

Nearing the said area he saw Naruto standing away from the kitchen, but in a position where he'd be able to look in unnoticed. What on earth was the boy doing? He would have asked except suddenly the girl with the black hair with a bluish sheen and distinctive Hyuuga eyes made her way out of the kitchen and Naruto never took his eyes off her. What affected Iruka the most was the look in his eyes, yearning and soft. He was starting to wonder what it was that his student was doing in his free time.

Iruka approached Naruto and when he drew close the boy finally noticed him, "Iruka-sensei." he put on his foolish grin and Iruka finally realized how it much it had always distracted him before and how that had been it's intent all along!

"Naruto, it's time to get going."

His face fell a bit, but he just grinned cheerfully again and began to ramble on about the day like he always did. They made their way outside and began the walk to the palace, and all the while Iruka wondered how much of himself did the young prince hide, even from him.

After Naruto's group had left, the outing may have ended for them, but as for the heroines of our story, they still had a great deal of work to do.

By mid-afternoon Hinata was already exhausted. If felt as if hundreds of people had come and gone and Akio-san was starting to run out of merchandise when she suddenly felt a familiar presence, Neji-sama!

Fleeing into the kitchen she nearly hid under the table; Sakura and Tenten who had been cleaning more cups both started when Hinata had burst in. "Hinata, what on earth is wrong?" Tenten asked in concern.

"N-neji-sama is here, my cousin is here!" She hissed from behind the table.

Sakura grew cold at that and wondered if perhaps he knew that she was here and came to get her.

Tenten on her other hand wasn't afraid, and she suddenly got the intense desire to meet Hinata's much feared cousin.

While Hinata never said anything bad about him, and it did appear that he was more apathetic towards her than cruel, she was still afraid of him. She would only say that he was scary.

"Don't worry Hinata, I'm sure he's just here to view the weapons like everyone else. Just stay here until we say it's ok."

At that Sakura and Tenten went back into the showroom and pretended that everything was fine. As for Tenten she immediately sought out the young man in question. He wasn't exactly hard to find.

Long brown hair, pale skin, and the trademark Hyuuga eyes, he radiated over the top, 'coolness'. He looked as if his face would break if he smiled.

Casually walking up to him with an order form said, "May I help you with anything, get you some tea perhaps while you look?"

He gave her a cold and appraising look, as if he was decided if she was even worth responding to. He just nodded and said, "Tea."

My my, Tenten thought, quite the chatterbox aren't you. *note the sarcasm*

She got him some tea and watched him discretely as he viewed and tested the various weapons.

Neji had received weapons through one of his connections in the city for several years now. When he heard about today's event, however, he decided that it would be worthwhile for him to go himself rather then send a servant. He had dubious feelings about what he'd heard and wanted to test the weapons himself.

As he began to view the new weapons and felt their surprisingly light weight he was approached by a young woman wearing a pink shirt and she had a peculiar hair style with two buns on either side of her head.

She asked him if he needed anything and offered him tea, he supposed that tea would be acceptable. Luckily she left him be after serving him the hot drink and simply watched him and the other patrons from a distance.

Tenten could read this young man like a book. Overly disciplined, stoic obsessed as she like to call it, but also one of those angst ridden sorts. Probably had to do with being an orphan, she certainly knew how that felt. But she also had the feeling that it had more to do with his Uncle's raising and his family in general then his lack of parents.

But after seeing him for the first time she could help but think, "He's kind of hot!"

She almost missed her master's announcement of her next demonstration.

Neji lifted his head away from the kunai in his hand and looked on curiously (for him) at the announcement. A demonstration could be interesting, and he would be interested to know what sort of apprentice Akio-san had.

He followed along with the rest of the crowd and was surprised to see Akio introduce the girl with the pink shirt as, 'Tenten, his apprentice'. The girl smiled politely to the crowd and without much ado proceeded with her demonstration.

The girl was fast, and the new weapons only made her style that much more impressive than it would be otherwise. He was fascinated; looking at her he knew that he just found the perfect sparring partner to test his family's secret move.

Despite the various surprises Hinata managed to survive the day. She was still reeling over Naruto's attention, but she was also terrified by her near exposure by her cousin. If her father had found out that she was working for a civilian weapons smith he'd probably lock her in her room for a month!

After changing and gathering her groceries she bid goodbye to Tenten and Sakura and made her way home with Kiba and Shino. Kiba chatted a bit, but they were so tired that in the end they barely managed to put everything away before climbing into their respective beds and falling asleep.

Naruto had been so pleased to see Hinata that, looking back, he probably hadn't been as discreet as he could, or rather, should have been. Iruka-sensei kept giving him funny looks, and if anyone was going to notice that Naruto had a crush it'd be him.

He wasn't sure why he wanted to hide his feelings from his sensei, but maybe it was due to his own internal confusion. Love was confusing in general he supposed. Firstly, he wasn't even sure that he was in love, and he hardly knew the girl at all, but he couldn't get her out of his mind!

It was in the midst of another etiquette lesson for the ball, where he had been busy daydreaming about dancing with Hinata, that he decided that he should just talk to her and get it out of his system.

The ball was drawing near and Hinata was growing more and more excited even though she wasn't going to attend. She practiced dancing with Sakura and Tenten, who also used Kiba and Shino as partners. The ball was going to take place on a Saturday and since her family was planning to attend she knew that everyone would be too busy to notice her absence. She, Kiba, and Shino were planning to go to the city that day and see Sakura and Tenten off, and then they would be able to hear all about it right away.

Both Hinata and Kiba were really looking forward to hearing all about the Palace, the King, and the famous ninjas. Shino was passive, but they were his friends and he wouldn't disappoint them by saying that he'd rather collect insects.

And as for Hinata a mere two weeks before the ball she began to have unexpected meetings with a certain special someone.

During one of her visits to the city market she felt as though she was being followed. Though she sensed no malice it was a bit annoying and so once she turned into an alleyway she quickly sped up and making many twists and turns she figured that she had lost him.

Standing in the shadows she looked around to see if she could spot anyone suspicious. Not really noticing anything she stepped out and ran right into Naruto!

She nearly fainted on the spot and Naruto quickly became concerned.

Naruto hadn't meant to scare her he was just trying to work up the nerve to speak to her when she suddenly bolted. He figured she noticed him tailing her, so he followed in the hopes of apologizing. Now it looked like he had scared her to death!

Hinata was so stunned she allowed Naruto to pull her away into a secluded café before she had even noticed what happened.

Sitting her down he ordered some tea and she managed to collect herself.

Truly contrite he said, "I'm so sorry Hinata-san, I didn't mean to scare you."

"N-no, Naruto-san, I-I was just surprised." She felt so stupid; he probably thought that she was crazy or something now.

He looked quite remorseful so she tried to relax; she hated how flustered she would become when faced with anything unexpected.

Their tea was served and she sipped it slowly, allowing herself to compose a bit.

"Naruto-san, I'm sorry I-I am just not used to surprises."

"No, Hinata-san please don't be sorry, I shouldn't have been following you like that. I just wanted to talk to you but I was afraid to bother you."

He found himself babbling a little so he wisely shut up and drank his tea.

Hinata didn't know what to say, he seemed nervous…and he wanted to talk to her! She hoped that she hadn't done anything to offend him, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I…well really I just wanted to talk."

Hinata pondered this, well it wasn't bad that he just wanted to talk; she thought maybe it'd do her good to take the initiative for once.

She looked him in the eye and found herself somewhat lost it their cerulean brilliance, and she said the first thing that came to mind, "do you get your eyes from your mother or father?"

When she realized her boldness she nearly slapped herself.

Naruto was surprised at her sudden question but it was a start! "Well, the color is from my father, but people tell me the shape is from my mother. My fathers eyes are more 'almond' shaped really."

Hinata found herself drifting into an easy conversation with Naruto; they talked and talked and then she realized that she needed to get home right way.

"I'm sorry Naruto-san, but I didn't realize the time I have to return home."

He looked up at the sky in surprise, "Wow, I didn't realize either."

They both grinned at each other stupidly in chagrin, "All right, then I'll walk you home it's getting dark."

He helped her gather her things and insisted on escorting her home, despite her protests.

Halfway there she began to get very worried, she still hadn't convinced him to let her go the rest of the way home; he noticed her worry.

"What is wrong Hinata, will you get into trouble if they see me?"

She looked at him and could see that he was generally concerned with her safety, but this could be bad.

"I suppose that as long as they don't see you it'll be alright, but as you know the Hyuuga clan is well known for their eyes."

He laughed and said, "Alright then, we'll get as close as possible, and then I'll let you go alone, alright?"

She nodded happily, she wanted to spend time with him but she knew her family wouldn't allow simply allow her to spend time with an outsider.

When they parted ways she didn't know what to say, 'goodbye', 'hope to see you soon.' She thought but before she could say anything Naruto bent down and kissed her on the cheek before saying, "I hope to see you soon Hinata." And then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

She placed her hand on her cheek and nearly cried in happiness.


	10. Chapter 10

A few days later, in the city of Konoha our young Tenten was having an encounter of her own.

After the special sale things had been very quiet in her master's store. The man had already bought his suit for the ball and since Sakura was nearly done with both her gown and Tenten's as well they put the ball aside for the moment and work went on as usual.

Tenten, however, found herself lounging in the back room of the shop bored out of her mind. It was her turn to man the shop in case anyone dropped by and it had been a very slow day. Suddenly, she heard the tinkle of the bell which announced that someone had entered the shop.

Getting up she stepped out of the back room with a pleasant smile plastered on her face, which abruptly changed to a look of surprise when she saw the one and only Hyuuga Neji staring back at her.

"May I help you with anything Neji-sama?"

He smirked slightly before answering, "Yes, you may. I want you to come with me."

She starred at him and said, "What, now?"

"Yes, now." It was a statement, and he wasn't one to take no for an answer.

"But, I need to stay here and watch the sho.."

Before she could finish he cut in, "I don't think the place will go out of business if you close a bit early."

She knew that was true, and besides that most of their products were sold out due to their recent event. She decided that this would be a unique opportunity to learn more about Hinata's family so she just shrugged and left a note for her master before locking up.

Neji took the lead and made his way out of the city to the relative privacy of the surrounding woods. Tenten couldn't help but get a bit wary, what was this man planning to do with her? Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to follow a stranger who was undoubtedly quite powerful to the woods…alone.

"Anou, Neji-sama, what is it you want from me anyway?"

"I want you to train with me." He bluntly responded.

Well that was a perfectly healthy response, she didn't really think he was the sort, but one never knows.

"Why?"

He let out a small hmmpf and a brief smirk before saying, "Your fighting style interests me, and would be a good test against my family's techniques. Besides, I know that you are my cousin's friend and I was sure that curiosity would get the best of you."

"You know that Hinata and I are friends?" She was definitely worried now.

"Of course, I have my contacts in the city, and she visits you during her weekly visits to the market." Seeing Tenten's worried look he added, "There is no need to worry, it doesn't concern me who she spends time with."

That made sense; if they did care then they wouldn't let her spend so much time on her own. But his comment gave her pause for thought. If he believed her to be trustworthy because she was Hinata's friend, then he must think well of Hinata, at least to some degree.

"Do you trust Hinata's judge of character then?" She asked, with a touch of humor to her voice.

Coming to a secluded clearing he stopped, and turned to her, "I don't know Hinata very well, but I do know that she isn't stupid. This is a good place to practice."

Tenten couldn't exactly fault Neji's logic there, well she might as well make the most of this situation; goodness knows when she'd next get to spar with such a skilled opponent.

She took her stance and they began.

Tenten soon discovered that Neji was the toughest opponent she'd ever sparred with. She had to use everything she had against him and even then she was defeated. Panting heavily and sitting on the ground she watched him walk over to her, he didn't look the least bit winded.

His techniques were just as Hinata described; a perfect defense, her own skills worked well to test the boundaries of his techniques.

"Hmmm, I thought you'd give me more of a challenge." He stated rather bluntly before heading towards the main road.

"Hey where are you going?" She shouted after him.

"Home, where else." And with that he left.

Tenten stared after him with her mouth hanging open for a minute before she felt a surge of anger well up insider of her, _What A JERK!_

She fumed all the way home; _he could have at least walked me home!_ She grumbled to herself. After all, he had led her so far out of the city that it was already dark and she still had a ways to go.

If he was any kind of gentlemen he wouldn't have just left like that! She was so angry that she could hardly see what was in front of her, let alone in her general surroundings. Which is why she suddenly found herself in a tight situation; her senses warned her that she was not alone, but it was too late to simply run.

She was at the edge of the city, where a great many undesirables had created a slum that was the center of the city's more seedy activity. Cursing herself, she hadn't even realized that she was headed towards this area; she'd been that distracted.

A group of rather unpleasant looking men had surrounded her and she knew they weren't going to let her pass easily.

A tall and rather greasy looking man came forward and said, "Look what we have here, are you lost little lady?"

The other men snickered and she grew rather nervous. "No, not lost." She replied whilst thinking up a plan.

"Really, well then would you like to join us for a drink?"

Tenten suddenly realized something she'd almost forgotten, as she had been living a respectable life for quite some time. She used to be a bum just like them.

She visibly relaxed her body and said, "Sure, why not, as long as you are buying."

The men obviously hadn't expected that. Since she was neat and clean in appearance they assumed that she was a daughter of one of the wealthier citizens of the city who had gotten lost; an easy prey for men like them with perhaps a purse to be stolen, or potentially kidnapped and ransomed off.

Despite her neat clothing and clean countenance everything from Tenten's body language to her way of speech screamed that she had lived a life on the streets.

Laughing a little, the man who had addressed her asked, "Now now young lady you look like you can afford to pay for your own drink."

"I work for my money and I work hard, I used to be poor and starving, but I'm telling you now that I am perfectly capable of taking you down so let me pass."

One of the men came forward growling, "Cheeky bitch!" She was tired from her match with Neji so while she dodged him she wasn't able to avoid the fist from the man who snuck around her.

She fell to the ground from the impact, her face throbbing, but quickly stood back up. With that she whipped out a retractable wooden staff and did some fancy spinning, knocking down her closest attackers. The men quickly backed off and when they did she took off running. She had no desire to get into an all out brawl like the olden days.

When she finally got home Akio-san was worried sick. He fussed and scolded but finally she was able to go to bed. Carefully resting the uninjured side of her face on her pillow, she tried to relax. But it was hard; she was still angry and upset, it had been a long time since she'd been in a situation like that and it had frightened her. Stupid Neji, this was entirely **his** fault! Sniffling, she turned her face into the pillow and cried bitter tears.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day Tenten was meeting with Sakura to have last fitting for her ball gown. The ball was only six days away and Sakura was starting to freak out. There had been a lot of customers to deal with; lots of fussy mothers and daughters from the aristocratic class.

Most of these women just came to buy cloth and had their own seamstresses to make their dresses, but things happen.

Sakura ducked out of the shop and climbed down into the cellar where she was sure Tenten had been waiting for awhile already, in her arms was a silvery-grey dress that had only just been returned for being ill fit by herself, or so they claim. The truth was that it had been made perfectly but the intended wearer gained quite a bit of weight since then. Strange really, the girl had only been a tiny bit plump when she first measured it, but after experiencing the Mother's wrath she didn't have a hard time guessing that stress might have had a part in it.

It was a stressful time; every woman was prepping her daughter in the hopes that she would catch the eye of a wealthy noble, or even the Hokage himself. This was the first ball in a long time, so it really wasn't unreasonable she supposed.

She sighed, too bad Hinata wasn't coming, the dress she was currently holding would have been perfect for her, just needed a few alternations.

Carefully taking the last step she sighed in relief and looked over the dress to see Tenten sulking in the far corner.

"Tenten! Really you don't have to look so upset, I'll make it quick." She teased as she placed the gown down and came forward. Then Tenten turned towards her and she gasped in surprise, placing her hands over her mouth she stared for a second before shouting, "Tenten what happened!"

Tenten winced at Sakura's tone, "Don't shout Sakura, it's not so bad."

"Not so bad! Did you get into a fight?" A large portion of the right side of her face was covered in a dark black bruise that was from either a kick or a really large fist.

Suddenly timid she slowly came forward and asked with trembling lips, eyes large, "Have you put anything on it yet?"

Tenten found herself lost in Sakura's huge jade eyes, blushing she shook her head, "No, it'll be ok."

Sniffling her pink haired shook her head and went over to a far cabinet, "No it won't you want it to go down before the ball don't you, plus it must also hurt a lot."

"Sensei put a compress on it last night, it doesn't hurt too bad." She lied, the compress had helped, but when he had tried to give her another this morning she had run out the door too embarrassed and in fear of him asking too many questions. After all, the note she had left him had specifically said that she had left with Neji-sama.

Sakura came back with a jar and wet cloth. She opened the jar and used the cloth to spread some of the cream on Tenten's bruise. It smelt of lavender, and made her skin feel cool and numb, soon the pain was gone.

"There!" Sakura said, as she finished, "Just let that stay on there for a bit."

She just nodded and stood, "Well, I guess we should do the fitting, I'm sure you are very busy."

Sighing Sakura agreed and quickly Tenten undressed and put the dress on. She slipped on a sleeveless deep red silk taffeta dress with a silk organza over skirt draping from one side. She had to admit that it was a gorgeous dress, and even came with a matching wrap and shoes.

Silently she stood as Sakura pinned and tucked. As she pinned she asked, "So what happened?"

She knew that she'd have to tell her sooner or later so might as well get it over with.

"Yesterday Hinata's cousin Neji came to the shop. He said that he wanted me to go with him; I was curious so I agreed. It turned out that he wanted to train with me."

"Was he the one who gave you that shiner?!" Sakura asked.

"No, the training was exhausting and I am sore from it, but no. When we were done he told me that he thought I'd be more of a challenge and just walked off. I was so angry that when I headed home, I didn't pay attention to where I was going and ended up the red light district"

Sakura faced had gone from a look of disapproval of Neji's actions, to horror at realizing what Tenten had walked into.

"I'm lucky that all I got out of yesterday evening was this." Gesturing to her face she shrugged out of the gown, which Sakura had finished pinning and got dressed.

Starring at her friend, Sakura wasn't sure exactly what bothered her most about all this. But she had the feeling that something had sparked between Tenten and Neji, at least on Tenten's part and it his behavior had hurt her friend so much more than it would have had he been anyone else.

She decided to let the subject drop as Tenten obviously wasn't ready to really talk about it yet. Starring at the grey dress that she had brought down with her she suddenly came up with an idea.

"You know what? I think I'll make Hinata a dress!"

Tenten, startled but the sudden change of subject looked at Sakura like she'd grown a second head, "What!?"

The pink haired girl walked to the dress in question and showed it to Tenten. It was a silvery grey satin dress; it had short sleeves off the shoulder which would emphasize Hinata's shoulders and rather ample bosom without being vulgar. The top was designed to fit snug at the waist and flair out without being too form fitting but also not too bulky. Basically it was designed to allow for free movement as well as emphasize the wearer's curves without letting anything hang out.

Considering how curvy her friend was it would suit her quite well. Sakura's own dress was made of a rosy mauve colored taffeta with a gold sheen to it. It had short off the shoulder straps like Hinata's dress but had a fuller skirt. Like Tenten's dress it had a bit of padding in the bust area but Hinata had no such need.

"Think of it Tenten, instead of simply watching the two of us dress up, she could dress up along with us, that way she can enjoy part of the experience. Besides, I want to see how beautiful she will look in this dress!"

Smiling Tenten answered, "Yeah, you're right, she can dress up and see how beautiful she really is."

The thought of Hinata being able to share at least in some small part of their experience cheered her up immensely, and while she was still upset it wasn't so hard to fake a smile now.

Walking home she started to think of those small details, like what style would look nice on her and so on. Sakura's mother and aunt were going to do their hair and cosmetics, both women were very talented in such arenas. Would a necklace look nice? She didn't own any jewelry besides the simple silver studs she wore in her ears. They had been a gift from her sensei.

She had quite a bit of an allowance saved up…

Without even really thinking about it all that much she found herself wandering to the shopping areas of their district. There were plenty of affordable shops selling both used and new jewelry. It didn't hurt to look right?

She had almost forgotten about her face and it took her a moment to realize people were staring.

Sakura had wiped off the ointment and it had actually helped quite a bit, the swelling was down. But she still had an ugly yellowish-purple bruise on one side of her face. Squaring her shoulders she pretended that no one was looking and entered the first shop.

Looking around she saw some nice things but decided that she wanted to keep looking. Going in and out of several stores she was so absorbed in her shopping that she didn't realize that she was being watched…by more than one person.

After visiting several shops she finally had an idea what she wanted to buy. Her dress would look better with gold jewelry. Hinata would look good with silver. Sakura already had set of pearls to wear that belonged to her mother.

She didn't know a whole lot about accessories, but she thought that less was more and since she couldn't afford to buy many pieces it would behoove her to decide what would look the best. Thinking about the cut of the dress, and that her hair would be up in what Sakura called an 'elegant coif' perhaps a simple pendant and earrings would go well.

Still she didn't know what to decide on when a particular pendant caught her eye. It was a cameo pendant, a little more than an inch long. It had a pinkish/peach and white shell cameo of a woman with an elegant hairstyle; well, didn't all cameos have that on them, at least on the whole. It was in a gold setting and was elegant as well as simple without looking cheap. It seemed just right.

"Sir, may I see this necklace?"

The shop owner came over and smiled as he took the necklace out of the case and fastened it on her neck, then he handed her a small mirror. Looking at it sitting on her neck, she tried to imagine herself with in her dress. She was happy with the vision.

The store sold 'antique' jewelry. It was probably more like a pawn shop by the looks of it, but the prices were reasonable and it seemed to be good quality.

"I'll take it; do you have earrings that would match?"

He chuckled good-naturedly as he placed the necklace in a small drawstring bag. "It's nice to see a young lady like yourself here; I bet you're going to the ball aren't you. You match the description of Master Akio's apprentice. You were the rage of the town you know after that big event he had."

She blushed a little, "Yes that's me, I'm Tenten."

"Well Tenten, my name is Kentaro and I think I have some earrings here that would go nicely with that pendant."

He pulled out several pairs of gold earrings. "These are called filigree."

They were very pretty, long dangling sort of earrings, but not too long. Finally she decided on a pair that was about one and quarter inches long and a 'stretched oval shape".

"All set then?" he asked her.

She was about to say yes when her eyes fell upon a silver necklace. It had a diamond shaped pendant, about an inch large. It was inlaid with many small stones, of varying size. They looked like diamonds, it was very pretty. She couldn't help but think that it would look beautiful on Hinata in her silver dress.

"You certainly have a good eye; this is one of my nicer pieces, though I'd say that gold compliments your coloring better."

Shaking her head, "Oh not for me, I was just thinking that it would compliment a friend of mine." Laughing a little she added, "I've never bought jewelry before I suppose I've never really thought about how it can make a girl look prettier."

"Well young lady, as I always say it is the girl who compliments the stone. Now if you like this for your friend; I'll give you a good deal only fifty ryo for your set and this pendant."

Fifty ryo! That wasn't bad, it was about all her savings but it wasn't like she'd starve if she spent it all. While she was no pro on jewels she could tell that the jewelry she'd picked wasn't worth a fortune, but it was by no means cheap. She hesitated for only a moment before deciding, "Alright, thank you!"

Walking home she felt a true smile on her face, shopping for fun was a lot nicer than she thought. She had a habit of avoiding anything girly but this was something she might do again; but not for awhile, right now she was broke!

There was an odd feeling though, that began to creep up along her spine. It felt like she was being watched. She kept her pace calm and normal, casually looking around her, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Could be a ninja, or maybe a pervert, well it didn't matter.

They could look as much as they wanted as long as they didn't touch! She laughed to herself and since she had made it to the shop she entered through the back and ran up the stairs to her room.

Entering she threw herself onto her bed and looked over her purchases. She put the jewelry on and looked at herself in her small mirror and giggled a bit, finally feeling excited about the ball.


	12. Chapter 12

Neji felt a little bad about how he had treated Tenten and it had kept him up at night. He wanted to go and apologize for his undignified behavior. His uncle would have been appalled at such rudeness; despite the girl being a 'nobody'.

He had nearly reached the shop when he noticed her leaving. She had her head down and was walking hurriedly away. The behavior was odd, she always walked with confidence. It was probably his fault, she must still be upset.

He followed her, but lost sight of her amongst the crowd for a moment. When he saw her again she was walking down some steps into the basement of a fabric and clothing store. Waiting a few minutes he realized that she wasn't going to come out any time soon so he found a nearby cafe and had something to drink.

After about an hour she finally emerged, when she did he could tell that her spirits were lifted somewhat, but now that she had her head up he could see the large bruise on the side of her face.

_When did she get that shiner?_ Its color was diminished, as if she had been injured a few days ago, but obviously that wasn't possible, he'd only just seen her last night, she must have medicated it.

It was only feasible to think that she had either gotten it last night after they departed or this morning, but…

He kept following her; she wandered a bit before heading right towards the shopping area of this section of the city, she looked around seeming to be a little lost before she walked into the first jewelry store she saw. After a while she finally seemed to settle into a little antique shop. She came out after what seemed like ages, even tomboy girls like to shop!

She didn't take any notice of him until she was going home and he could see her body tensing and she began to look around her in a casual manner; however, he wasn't a ninja for nothing. He was impressed that she noticed at all.

Sighing to himself he began to follow her again and then suddenly he wondered what the hell he was doing. He was practically stalking! Then his highly trained senses could tell that he wasn't the only one doing so. The aura was somewhat familiar, but…

He still wanted to speak to her. She had looked happy though after her shopping, would he ruin her good mood? But he wanted to know how she had been injured. The aura was most definitely not someone from his family so should he care if someone watched him, he didn't care what outsiders thought of him.

Suddenly incredibly nervous he found himself at a loss as to what to do, what was wrong with him; firmly shaking himself out of whatever was possessing him he briskly walked up to front door of the shop and let himself in.

It wasn't long before he felt utter hostility directed at him, he didn't need his byakugan to realize that it was Akio-san glaring down at him. Firmly he walked up to the man and asked, "Is Tenten in, I'd like to speak with her?"

As for Akio-san he was torn between tossing the young man out and punching him in the face. He wasn't stupid, he knew that the Hyuuga family wasn't the sort to piss off, but this boy hurt his little girl!

"I don't think I can allow you speak to her, she still won't talk to me about what happened the other day, but I hardily disapprove of you spending any more time with her."

Neji had to respect the man's desire to protect his student, but still, "I can assure you Sir, that I didn't do anything to hurt your student; however, I was incredibly lax in my manners by leaving her to walk herself home and I would like to apologize to her."

Akio's eyes softened slightly and after a moment's hesitation he nodded slightly and told him to have a seat in the back room.

After sitting down he waited as Akio-san went upstairs. Several tense minutes past before he finally heard footsteps coming back downstairs; it was Akio again.

"She'll be a minute."

At that Akio went to the front room, no doubt within hearing range, but at least they'd have some privacy.

When her sensei told her that Neji was downstairs waiting for her she had the incredibly strong urge to tell him to tell Neji to get lost. Her sensei wasn't her real father but she loved him and she knew that he loved her and would have no problem doing as she asked.

However, despite being a jerk, she knew that Neji wasn't totally at blame, so she agreed to come down and talk to him.

When she entered the back room she was completely prepared to tell Neji to piss off, but the look on his face paralyzed her, he looked...sad.

Taking a long look at her bruised face Neji stood and realized that he failed as a man and also that he cared for this girl and that made it even worse.

When she took her last step down the stairs and was trying to figure out what to say Neji took the lead, "Tenten,..." Tenten was surprised he even remembered her name!

She nervously rubbed at her arm and tried to look him in the eye. He seemed more nervous than she!

He tried to speak naturally but it just didn't want to come out, rather he choked out, "I'm sorry that I left you as it was, I should have walked you home...are you alright?"

Tenten wanted to ignore him at first but he seemed so sincere. "It's alright, I'm fine, I should have been more careful where I was going."

Neji really didn't know what to say to that, he expected her to at least call him an idiot if not outright yell at him. His uncle didn't raise him to be disrespectful to women, and considering his uncle's personality he expected to be chewed out at least a bit! If not in public then in private which is what he prepared for by asking to be alone with her.

"Tenten, I'm sorry that showed you so much disrespect by not walking you home. And I would like to make it up to you."

Tenten really had no idea how to respond to the poor young man and part of her knew that he had no uniform response either, that this response of his was not typical.

"Well, I hope that it would not be too inconvenient for you to dance with me during the ball...and she didn't know why but added, at least three dances!"

Neji really had no idea what he was saying until it was too late to take it back!

"That would be most acceptable, see you then!" He nodded his head in a slight bow and then turned very fast and walked out the door now knowing exactly how to feel about what he had promised the girl.


	13. Chapter 13

Naruto and Sasuke were waiting for Kakashi-sensei to show up for their training when something suddenly occurred to Naruto, "Sasuke, what do you think we are supposed to talk about with the girls at the ball?"

Looking up Sasuke seemed a bit startled by the question, "I don't know, the usual I guess." Though the second it came out of his mouth he realized how stupid that sounded.

Truth was that he spent so more time avoiding the girls that chased after him that he really never found himself talking to many.

Naruto found it almost odd that he hadn't had any difficulty talking to Hinata, but what was he going to do during the ball? Odds are he would only embarrass himself and his father.

As for Sasuke he sat silent as he realized that he really had no idea how to talk to the opposite sex.

"Well, I'm not too worried I suppose." Naruto reasoned as he knew exactly who he would want to spend time with at the ball and he felt that he would just stick to generic chit chat until Hinata came...but WAIT, was she even invited? What would he do if she wasn't there? He needed to talk to her to see if she could come, the idea of her not being there, truly upset him.

Sasuske looked up startled when Naruto suddenly stood up very fast with an almost panicked look on his face.

"Naruto..?"

Naruto just looked at his friend and blurted out real fast, "I need to go see Iruka-Sesei!" And with that he was off.

Iruka was just putting his various papers in order when Naruto tore into his office and then suddenly froze still looking quite nervous. Now, normally, Naruto would just burst into some sort of semi incomprehensible speech when he'd burst into his office so he was completely unprepared for total silence.

Looked at the young man very calmly he asked, "Naruto-sama is there something I can help you with?"

He used his semi-scolding tone as didn't exactly approve of the way he had burst into his office, but decided not to actually scold him. The tone worked as Naruto became more subdued and took a deep breath before he answered his teacher.

"Sensei, I need you get me an invitation to the ball. I mean I know I'm already invited, well of course I'm invited..." he muttered to himself. He could not seem to get the words out!

Iruka waiting patiently for Naruto to spit it out, he was calm on the outside, but on the inside he was amused at his pupils most unusual behavior.

"Well I need you to get me an invitation for a girl." Naruto felt himself blushing as he said it and almost didn't have the nerve to look Iruka in the eye. He watched as his teacher first looked surprised and then burst into a huge smile.

"Naruto, I will get you an invitation for anyone you wish to invite, would you like to tell me about your guest?"

He just kept smiling as the boy told him more and more about the girl he was obviously in love with.

Naruto walked in the streets with a lift in his steps and a smile on his face. He had no care of anything except his current mission, find Hinata's friend so that he could pass on the invitation he acquiesced for her.

Being a boy from means, who really didn't completely understand what a ball really entailed, like a gown and so forth, he really didn't see any impairment beyond a lack of a physical invitation. Luckily Hinata's friends knew better.

He knew that going to the Hyuga complex was probably a bad idea so he went to the weapon masters shop, in hope that the man's apprentice would know a better idea to contact the girl.

Stopping at the shop he tried to calm himself before entering; before he could chicken out he went in!

Barging into the store he suddenly found himself tongue tied.

The master of the shop just looked up startled for a second before he recognized one of his customers. Now Naruto had hoped that by keeping a low profile that most people in the city wouldn't know who he was, but really, anyone with any sense would know who the Hokage's son was. It only showed their respect towards him that the people who knew the truth never make any effort to point it out.

Seeing the young man Akio assumed that a potential sale was in order and approached the young man. Naruto was trying to find his tongue when Tenten wandered into the room.

Naruto glanced at the girl and smiled as she was one he had been looking for; but as for Akio, he had a slightly altered impression.

Seeing the boy's reaction he immediately grimaced and crossed his arms, seeing his reaction Tenten took the initiative.

Hello, Naruto right? He seemed just a bit surprised but just nodded. She smiled at him and asked, "Is this about Hinata?"

Just that one question seemed to put EVERYONE on hold. Naruto wasn't sure what to say, Akio took a second to comprehend what was going on and before he reacted, Tenten just sighed and asked Naruto to follow her.

She led him into the kitchen area where he had originally spoken with Hinata for the first time and asked him, "what is it you want Naruto-sama?"

'Sama?' Did everyone already know?

"W-what?"

Tenten interrupted before he could say more, "I'm sorry but only a fool wouldn't know the name and description of the son of the ruler of the land. Many are too busy or too lax, I am neither. Though Hinata is entirely too busy and isolated. Even Sakura, our mutual friend isn't aware."

Naruto was nearly speechless, "Why didn't you tell them?"

Tenten laughed a bit, "I didn't want to spoil their fun. Hinata is in love with you and Sakura is in love with people being in love."

Naruto almost fell over, he actually had to brace himself against the nearest wall. "She loves me..."

It didn't come out as a question, but more of an appeal.

Tenten knew that she had put her damn foot into her mouth but she replied truthfully, "Yes sir, she is most definitely in love with you, and as her friend I don't want her to get hurt!"

He almost stepped backwards into the wall when he heard her response; he would never mean to hurt the girl; however, despite the fact that he hated it he was of royal blood. He had no problem fighting to marry the one he loved, but what would it do to Hinata?

"Tenten-san, I may be the Hokage's son but I have never been a member of the political or social elite, I know it would be hard for Hinata to perhaps adapt but I love her and I will do everything possible to make her happy."

He meant every word and she knew it as well. Nodding approvingly she told him to move it and follow her elsewhere.

Her master watched in unabashed humor as Tenten led the Hokage's son out the door and he really had no idea what the hell was going on.

Tenten walked briskly through the streets with Naruto a hot step behind, she had a beeline towards Sakura's family shop; if anyone knew how to handle this situation, well, it was Sakura.

Ironically, Sakura was in the middle of adjusting the dress she had planned for Hinata to wear when they all dressed up. She'd made enough dresses for the girl to know what to adjust. Tenten wasn't really ever all that willing to be her experiment but Hinata was.

She knew that Hinata understood that it wasn't just a desire to dress her up, but that it was her chance to practice hemming, measuring, adjusting, etc. for the clientele of her father's business. Dressing her friend up was just a bonus.

Adding a few crystals here and there she snapped off the thread for the final time and steeped back to admire the dress. She wasn't conceited about her talents, but knew a beautiful dress when she saw one.

Short off the shoulder sleeves, a floor length hem, the bodice had crystal beading placed to compliment the bust and waist. The skirt was open with the outer being silver satin and the inner sparkly silver tulle.

Sighing happily she made her way upstairs to the main shop, just as she entered Tenten entered with the boy Hinata liked right behind her!


	14. Chapter 14

Sakura wasn't exactly sure what to expect but she just waited for one or the other to act. Naruto seemed extremely shy so Tenten took the lead.

"Sakura, Naruto got an invitation for Hinata to go to the ball, I know that you are the best person to ask as to what we should do."

It was a lot to take in. She stared at them for a few moments before she quickly started to think of the best course of action.

She was about to ask the two to come down to the basement with her when she remembered Hinata's dress. It wouldn't do for him to see it ahead of them.

"Why don't you come into the kitchen and we can talk." As they followed her, plans began to form in her mind. It wasn't long before she had a plan of action.

The ball was was scheduled on a Sunday so the usual shopping needed to be done bright and early so that she would be able to spend plenty of time with her friends watching them prepare for the ball. Kiba and Shino were coming to help her and she was just so excited that she could barely concentrate on her chores.

So much so that her stepmother took notice. Hinata was tidying up her cleaning supplies when her stepmother tore into the pantry towards her.

Hinata was so shocked to see the woman approach her that she instantly froze.

"What do you think you are doing?!" The woman shouted.

Hinata just stood mouth agape as the woman's fury mounted. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond, normally the woman ignored her altogether.

"I...I'm cleaning?" She managed to sputter out.

She watched in trepidation as her stepmother's face became almost beet red, "Really?!"

She exclaimed before grabbing Hinata's arm and pulling her forward.

Her Stepmother stopped at one of the hallways of the wing where the main family resided and swiped her finger on a small table that held a decorative vase. She pointed the soiled finger at Hinata and exclaimed, "Well?!"

Anyone who knew anything about the lady of the house knew that she couldn't tolerate dirt of any kind whatsoever.

She really didn't know what to say, I-it's dust?

Yes, it is dust, and you will clean the entire west wing again top to bottom until it is dust free!

Hinata nodded her head down until suddenly she realized that that would mean she wouldn't be able to visit her friends tomorrow and amazingly she managed to speak up to someone she feared more than most.

"B-but..."

She almost stopped at the look on her step-mother's face, "I go to the marked on Sunday and I wouldn't..."

The woman stopped her short, "You won't be going ANYWHERE until this place is spotless!"

Hinata bowed her head in abject misery and barely managed to wait for her step-mother to leave before she broke out in tears.

Later that evening she told Kiba and Shino about her punishment and asked them to go to town the next day and let her friends know that she wouldn't be coming. They were obviously sad for her and Kiba tried to think of ways to get her there.

Including helping her clean or disguising himself as her somehow and clean for her; she appreciated the sentiment but knew that that would not work as her Stepmother would undoubtedly make sure that she was the one punished.

She went to bed with a heavy heart and somehow managed to fall into a fitful sleep.

Hinata got up at the crack of dawn Sunday to begin her punishment. She began to polish the main family wing from top to bottom. From the moment her step-mother began to obsess about the ball to the very end she was dusting, polishing, scrubbing, and all together trying to forget about the ball.

Luckily her father and the whole bunch left rather early as Hyuugas never arrived late, or even fashionably early. They'd probably arrive at a friend's place in the city and wait for a bit to go to the castle.

Hinata was ready to relax and then cry the night away when she was almost scared to death by the sight of Shino's insects coming at her at full force.

Now most girls would run with all their might AWAY from such a such but Hinata forced herself to remain calm and next thing she knew she was being picked up and forced out the nearest window.

ok...want more review! Because as much as I try to motivate myself it isn't that easy!


	15. Chapter 15

"What do you mean she isn't coming!"

Kiba and Shino took a step back as Sakura, with curlers in her hair and some sort of green cream on her face, came at them in a fury.

Kiba put his hands up and tried to calm her, "Don't kill the messenger Sakura, we couldn't do anything about it."

Sakura took a deep breath and asked them to explain. They told her about Hinata's punishment and she just couldn't believe it.

"I don't care what you have to do to get her here but you need to do it!"

The two boys looked at each other confoundedly and she remembered that they had no idea why it was so important.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you but you don't understand, I have an invitation for Hinata to go to the ball, a dress, everything! It was going to be a big surprise."

She just shook her head while the boys tried to absorb everything.

"Who got her an invitation?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, a boy she has been spending time with, Naruto." Sakura replied.

Kiba put his head down, he never admitted his feelings to Hinata but he had always hoped that she would notice. Shino put his hand on his friend's should and just nodded. He knew how the boy felt but Hinata was not to blame.

"Sakura, I will get her here if you think that it isn't too late." He intoned. Hinata was his friend and he knew that she would love to go to the ball, and if her family had a problem with it he also knew that either Sakura's family or Tenten's master would have no problem taking her in.

She wasn't sure they could pull it off but it was worth a try, "Yes, get her here as soon as you can."

The boys ran off to get Hinata while Sakura explained to her family, and shortly thereafter to Tenten, what was going on.

Kiba followed his friend out the door and into the street but soon stopped him, "What to you think we can possibly do Shino?!"

He just gave him a long silent look and answered, "No matter what people think about us and our families, we ARE ninjas.

Hinata found herself gently touching the ground as Shino's insects put her down; as surprised as she was by that nothing could prepare her for what she saw next. Staring at her was the largest dog of the Kiba clan; Kiba's grandfather's dog Shiro, a wolf really, who just happened to be the size of a small horse.

She always thought that he was a beautiful animal with a shiny white coat and yellow eyes, but never had to the nerve to go anywhere near him.

Having no idea why he was there she began to slowly back away. Shiro looked at her curiously and perhaps knowing that she was intimidated he sat and just looked at her calmly.

What with Shino's insects and a wolf from Kiba's family here she thought that either of the two would be somewhere nearby. She thought that she ought to call out to them but before she could Shino's insects picked her up again and pulled her towards Shiro.

Shiro meanwhile had laid down and waited patiently for the girl to be situated on his back.

Now most girls at this point would be screaming and while Hinata was quite scared she trusted her friends and knew at the point that it was impossible for them to not be involved. So she allowed herself to be settled on Shiro's back and then held on for dear life as he bounded away towards the city.

Minato-san was busy welcoming everyone as they entered the ball. Soon it was mainstream and he began to loose concentration on the people who were being introduced and ushered into the ballroom.

All of a sudden he was thrown into an introduction that soon became most extraordinary. Iruka-san, the man who seemed more of a father to his son than he was, had a very beautiful woman on his arm.

He managed to stop staring and properly greet them.

Iruka bowed and introduced his companion. "Hogake-sama, this is my cousin Takara, she is visiting me."

Minato took a long look at he woman. She had the same tan skin as his son's tutor. She also had warm brown eyes and a friendly smile.

She looked at him with her engaging smile and said, "Thank you Hokage for the wonderful affair, I'm sure that my cousin and I will have an amazing time."

Minato felt himself nodding stupidly and responding, "I'm sure we will all have an amazing time."


	16. Chapter 16

Sakura's father and mother were trying to convince her and Tenten to leave for the ball, it was starting to get a bit late; but she just kept wanting to give Hinata another minute to arrive. At this point even if she did arrive soon they wouldn't be able to leave together. But at least she'd be able to arrive later and still enjoy herself somewhat.

Pacing the hallway she looked at the clock one last time and decided that she really couldn't keep her mother and father any longer. They had certainly been very patient and supporting but really this was about business, not Hinata's love life.

She was just about to say something when the front door burst open with Kiba and Shino pulling a rather shell shocked Hinata into her home; not to mention a large wolf who followed her in.

Hinata never thought she would survive the rather terrifying ride into the city on a giant wolf's back, when Kiba and Shino caught up to her and started pulling her towards Sakura's home she didn't even hear anything they said.

She just focused on staying with it and eventually finding out what on earth was going on and what on earth possessed her friends to arrange such a thing.

Coming through the door Hinata stopped short...Sakura...she was so beautiful! She understood now. Shiba and Kiba knew how much she had wanted to see her friends dress up for the ball. It was so thoughtful of them to bring her here!

Sakura thought that the smile on Hinata's face was so wonderful that it might blind her.

"Sakura, you look so wonderful!" Hinata couldn't help but gush, and then Tenten came into view! "Tenten, I-I just can't believe how wonderful you both look!", she finally managed to stutter out; and it was true, they both looked amazing with their dresses and hair and everything!

She almost forgot why she had Hinata brought here, "Hinata!" Hinata stopped gushing and looked at Sakura with a confused expression.

Sakura smiled and grabbed her friend's hands, "Hinata thank you for your compliments, but seeing us dress up was not why I had you brought here."

Confused, Hinata waited for her friend's explanation.

Sakura was almost afraid to tell Hinata, but her father and mother and aunts all gave her encouraging looks.

"Hinata, you are going to the ball."

The floor almost gave out under her, Shino quickly grabbed her arm to steady her, "W-what?"

Sakura wanted to explain but her family promised her that they'd bring Hinata up to speed and get her ready to go as soon as the carriage returned.

It was a flurry of full skirts, hurried apologies, and goodbyes before Sakura and her parents and uiTenten and her master rushed out the door. As soon as they left Hinata was pounced upon by Sakura's aunts and grandmother.

"Now don't you worry young lady!" Sakura's Aunt Hiromi stated, while firmly ushering her into the nearby parlor where a magnificent silver gown was waiting for her.

She just went through the motions as she really couldn't believe what was happening to her.

Sakura's Aunts Hiromi and Kagome began with giving her a quick bath before putting up her hair and getting her into the various necessary undergarments that she had never worn before in her life!

All the while they explained that a friend had acquired an extra invitation for Hinata and as Sakura had already prepared a dress for her to try on for fun, she decided to surprise her. It was when she found out that Hinata wasn't coming that her friend Shino and Kiba were given the task of getting her to the city.

Hinata didn't say much during the whole affair, she was afraid that if she did she would burst out crying. She was just so overwhelmed by the kindness and thoughtfulness of her friends.

She was primped and prepared faster than any woman in history, at least she imaged so, and soon or rather too soon the carriage had come back to pick her up.

Sakura's Aunt Kagome put a beautiful neck lace on her as they were waiting for the carriage, "Your friend Tenten bought this for you. Those girls really care for you." Smiling the just left Hinata to look in the mirror and absorb everything.

She had an amazing gown her friend handmade for her! Jewelry another friend bought for her; and a makeover that most people would die for. It was just so amazing. Really she was afraid to go to the ball, what would she do, what would she say!


End file.
